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PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 
PRESENTED  BY 

Delavan  L.   Pier son 

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DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

A  NEW  ERA  FOR  MOSLEM  WOMEN 


"WHAT  THEN?" 

"  He  is  counting  on  you." 
He  has  need  of  your  life 
In  the  thick  of  the  strife  ; 
For  that  weak  one  may  fall 
If  you  fail  at  His  call. 
He  is  counting  on  you, 

If  you  fail  Him — What  then  ? 

"  He  is  counting  on  you." 
On  your  silver  and  gold, 
On  that  treasure  you  hold  ; 
On  that  treasure  still  kept, 
Though  the  doubt  o'er  you  swept 
"  Is  this  gold  not  all  Mine  ?  " 
("  Lord,  I  knew  it  was  Thine.'") 
He  is  counting  on  you, 

If  you  fail  Him— What  then  ? 

"  He  is  counting  on  you." 
On  a  love  that  will  share 
In  His  burden  of  prayer. 
For  the  souls  He  has  bought 
With  His  life-blood  :  and  sought 
Through  His  sorrow  and  pain 
To  win  "Home  "  yet  again. 
He  is  counting  on  you, 

If  you  fail  Him— What  then  ? 

"  He  is  counting  on  you. " 
On  life,  money,  and  prayer  ; 
And  "  the  day  shall  declare  " 
If  you  let  Him  have  all 
In  response  to  His  call  ; 
Or  if  He  in  that  day 
To  your  sorrow  must  say 
"I  had  coimted  on  you, 

But  you  failed  Me  "—What  then  ? 

"  He  is  counting  on  you." 
Oh  !  the  wonder  and  grace, 
To  look  Christ  in  the  face 
And  not  be  ashamed  ; 
For  you  gave  what  He  claimed, 
And  you  laid  down  your  all 
For  His  sake — At  His  call. 
He  had  counted  on  you. 

And  you  failed  not— What  then  ? 

Bessie  Porter  Head. 

Suggested  by  a  sentence  or  two  uaed  by  Mr  S.  D.  Gordon  in  an  Address 
delivered  at  Ki7ig's  HaU,  2:th  April  1910. 


y*i 


SEP  10195 


DAYLIGHT 


^L 


OfilOAL  St 


IN    THE    HAREM 

A  NEW  ERA  FOR  MOSLEM  WOMEN 

PAPERS  ON  PRESENT-DAY  REFORM  MOVEMENTS,  CONDITIONS 

AND  METHODS  OF  WORK  AMONG  MOSLEM  WOMEN 

READ  AT  THE  LUGKNOW  GONFERENGE.  1911 


EDITED    BY 

ANNIE  VAN  SOMMER 

AND 

SAMUEL  M.  ZWEMER 


FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 
NEW  YORK      CHICAGO      TORONTO 


<^ 


PRINTED    BY 

TURNBULL   AND  SPEARS, 

EDINBURGH 


PREFACE 

The  papers  sent  in  by  women  to  the  Lucknow 
Conference  have  been  forwarded  to  England 
with  instructions  from  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee that  they  should  be  brought  out  in  a 
separate  volume,  so  making  a  third  in  a  set  of 
three  Books  which  are  to  be  issued  in  America, 
India  and  England  as  the  outcome  of  the 
Conference. 

This  is  the  Women's  Volume,  and  we  send 
it  forth,  with  a  prayer  that  God  may  use  it 
to  stir  into  flame  the  embers  of  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  Moslem  Women  which  are  as  yet 
only  smouldering  in  the  hearts  of  Christian 
Women. 

The  Committee  of  the  Lucknow  Conference 
say  to  us  "  Go  forward  and  God  be  with  you," 
and  we  desire  unitedly  to  receive  our  Plan  of 
Campaign  from  above.  Our  first  duty  is  to 
carry  out  the  Resolutions  of  the  Conference 
which,  with  the  appeal  of  the  women  delegates, 
are  printed  at  the  close  of  this  book.     We  are 


6  DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

seeking  to  gain  the  co-operation  of  our  women 
fellow-workers  in  other  lands,  and  ask  that 
they  will  communicate  with  us,  so  that  we 
may  all  step  forward  together.  Correspondence 
may  be  addressed  to  any  of  the  Women  Mem- 
bers of  the  Committee. 

MISS  G.  Y.  HOLLIDAY, 

Tabriz,  Persia, 

Via  Berlin  and  Russia. 

MISS  AGNES  DE  SELINCOURT, 
26  Belsize  Grove,  Hampstead, 
London,  N.W. 

MISS  ANNIE  VAN  SOMMER, 
Fairhaven,  Palais, 

Ramleh,  Egypt. 

MISS  I.  LILIAS  TROTTER, 
2  Rue  du  Croissant, 
Algiers. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface       ......  5 

A  Sketch  of  the  Conference  at  Lucknow         .  11 

By  Dr  S.  M.  Zwemer. 

CHAP. 

I.  A  New  Era  for  Moslem  Womanhood        .         21 

By  Miss  A>'NIE  Van  Sommer 

II.  Signs  of  Progress  in  India  .  .         53 

By  Miss  A.  de  Selincourt 

III.  Among  the  Educated  Women  of  Turkey  71 

By  Miss  M.  M.  Patrick,  Ph.D. 

IV.  Social  Hindrances  .  .  .  .91 

By  Mrs  M'Clure 

V.  Reform  in  Egypt     .  .  .  .103 

By  Miss  A.  Y.  Thompson 

VI.  Awakening  Womanhood       .  .  .117 

By  Miss  G.  Y.  Holliday 

VII.  The  Ministry  of  Healing  .  .  .       131 

By  Miss  Emmeline  Stuart,  M.D. 

VIII.  The  Ministry  of  the  Press  .  .147 

By  Miss  Trotter 


8  DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

CHAP.  PAGK 

IX.  Teaching     Moslem     Women     in     Medical 

Missions  .  .  .  .159 

By  Miss  Cat 

X.  Training  of  Converts  .  .  .       l67 

By  Mrs  C.  M.  Wherry 

XI.  The  Ministry  of  Intercession        .  .183 

By  Miss  Annie  Van  Sommer 

Supplementary  Papers      .  .  .  .191 

The  Resolutions  of  the  Lucknow  Conference    .       207 

The  Women's  Appeal         .  .  .  .218 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Good  Morning  !   .  .         .  .         .  .   Frontispiece 

FACING 

The  Isabella  Thoburn  College,  where  the  Lucknow      page 
Conference  was  held  in  \Q\\      .  .  .  .  12 

Rev.  S.  M.  Zwemer,  D.D.,  F.R.G  S.  (Convener  and 

Chairman  of  both  Conferences)       ...  20 

The  Women's  Quarters       .....         32 

A  Village  Street        ......         48 

"For  Want  of  a  Friend"  ....  58 


A  Veiled  Algerian  Beauty         ... 

Types  of  Moslem  Women  (Bokhara,  Sahara,  Tunis 
Tashkend)     ...... 

The  American  Mission  College  for  Girls,  Cairo 

Fellah  W^omen  in   Upper  Egypt 

Shall  the  Children  be  as  the  Mothers  ? . 

An  Algerian  Family  Group 

Nomad  Life  in  Arabia  and  the  Soudan     . 

Women  awaiting  Treatment  at  Assouan  (Soudan 
Pioneer  Mission  Dispensary) 

"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day" 


64 

80 
106 
112 
128 
150 
156 

164 

186 


A  SKETCH  OF 
THE  CONFERENCE  AT  LUCKNOW 

The  second  general  Conference  on  Missions  to 

Moslems   was   held   at  Lucknow,   India,   from 

January  23rd  to  28th,  and  was  in  every  respect 

an  advance  on  that  held  at  Cairo  in  1906.     The 

Cairo   Conference  will  never  be  forgotten  by 

those  who  had  the  privilege  of  attending  it,  and 

its  results  in  awakening  the  Church  to  a  wider 

vision   and   a   bolder   faith   and  enterprise   as 

regards  the  Moslem  problem  are  evident  in  the 

history  of  missions  to  Moslems  for  the  past  five 

years. 

When,  at  the  Cairo  Conference,  Bishop  Warne 

extended  an  invitation  to  meet  in  Lucknow 

five  years  later,  there  were  those  present  who 

did  not  see  any  special  reason  for  the  selection 

of  this  city  among  all  the  cities  of  India  for  a 

gathering  of  this  character,  but  the  choice  was 

well  made.     Lucknow  was  an  ideal  place  of 

meeting,  not  only  because  of  its  historic  associa- 

u 


U        DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

tions  and  the  heroism  of  its  defence  during  the 
Mutiny,  but  because  it  is  also  the  chief  centre 
of  Shiah  Mohammedanism  for  all  North  India 
and  Central  Asia.  Here  is  located  one  of  the 
largest  Mohammedan  presses ;  here  are  the 
headquarters  of  the  All-India  Moslem  League, 
and,  next  to  Delhi,  Lucknow  is  the  greatest 
historical  capital  of  the  Moslem  world  in  India. 
All  the  great  architectural  monuments  of  the 
city  are  connected  with  the  story  of  the  Oudh 
rulers,  who  lavished  money  and  skill  in  adorning 
their  capital. 

Lucknow  is  not  only  a  centre  of  idleness  and 
luxury,  but  of  vigorous  enterprise  and  sacriiice. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission,  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  and  other  missions  have 
large  and  important  educational  and  evangelistic 
work  from  Lucknow  as  a  centre.  Here  are 
located  the  C.M.S.  High  School,  the  splendid 
Lady  Kinnaird  Hospital,  the  Methodist  PubHsh- 
ing  House,  the  Reid  Christian  CoUege,  and, 
above  all,  the  Isabella  Thoburn  College  and 
High  School — the  first  college  for  women  estab- 
lished in  all  Asia,  and  now  one  of  the  best 
equipped,  with  normal  and  college  departments 
and  an  enrolment  of  200  women. 


THE  CONFERENCE  AT  LUCKNOW  13 

All  the  meetings  of  the  Conference  were  held 
at  the  Isabella  Thoburn  College,  and  the  local 
committee  left  nothing  to  be  desired  in  the 
matter  of  arrangements  for  entertainment  and 
hospitahty  for  the  more  than  300  delegates 
and  visitors.  Tliose  who  went  out  in  the  early- 
morning  to  the  Residency  and  saw  its  battered 
walls  with  the  Union  Jack  always  flying  from 
the  ramparts,  and  stood  before  the  grave  of 
Lawrence  and  the  many  other  graves  of  heroes 
who  laid  down  their  lives  in  the  defence  of  the 
Indian  Empire,  felt  that  here  indeed  was  the 
inspiration  of  history  and  the  call  to  a  great 
heroism,  face  to  face  with  the  opposition  of 
the  Moslem  world.  The  sentiments  awakened 
doubtless  found  an  echo  when  again  and  again 
during  the  Conference  the  hymn  was  raised  : — 

Stand  up^  stand  up  for  Jesus, 

Ye  soldiers  of  the  Cross ; 

Lift  high  His  royal  banner. 

It  must  not,  it  must  not  suffer  loss, 

to  Alexander's  martial  tune. 

Not  only  was  there  inspiration  in  the  place 
of  meeting,  but  in  the  personnel  of  the  Confer- 
ence. The  Levant  and  North  Africa  were  not 
as  largely  represented  as  at  Cairo ;    it  was  an 


14        DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

Indian  Conference.  From  every  part  of  the 
great  continent  of  India  there  were  delegates, 
and  from  nearly  every  society.  The  Church 
of  England  stood  first  both  in  the  number  of  its 
delegates  and  in  leadership.  More  than  any 
other  society,  it  has  taken  up  work  among 
Moslems  on  the  northern  frontier,  in  Hyderabad, 
and  in  the  great  centres  of  population.  The 
Bishop  of  Lahore,  the  Bishop  of  Lucknow, 
Canon  Weitbrecht,  Archdeacon  Ihsan  Ullah, 
Canon  Ali  Bakhsh,  Rev.  J.  Qalandar  (these 
three  converts  from  Islam),  and  men  hke  Dr 
Pennell,  Dr  Lankester  and  Mr  Dixey,  from  the 
border-marches  of  Islam  on  the  far  north, 
brought  not  only  inspiration,  but  valuable 
expert  opinion  to  the  Conference.  The  Ameri- 
can societies  were  largely  represented.  Baptist, 
Presbyterian,  Methodist,  Congregational,  all 
the  way  from  Bombay  to  Calcutta  and  from 
Rawal  Pindi  to  Madras.  Lahore  Christian 
College  sent  not  only  its  principal,  Dr  Ewing, 
but  Professors  Talib-ud-Din  and  Siraj-ud-Din, 
both  of  them  experts  in  Islam. 

The  Methodist  Church  was  represented  by 
Bishops  McDowell,  Warne,  and  Robinson,  and 
from  America,  as  representing  the  Boards,  we 


THE  CONFERENCE  AT  LUCKNOW  15 

had  Chancellor  MacCracken,  of  New  York 
University,  and  Dr  C.  H.  Patton,  of  the  Ameri- 
can Board,  Boston.  The  Central  Asia  Mission 
sent  Rev.  W.  S.  Norwood,  working  on  the 
borders  of  Afghanistan  and  Tibet.  Mr  and 
Mrs  Trowbridge  brought  inspiration  from 
Aintab,  Tm'key,  as  they  told  the  story  of  the 
massacres  and  the  new  era  of  reform  and 
progress.  Miss  HolHday,  from  Tabriz,  and 
Miss  Ford,  from  Palestine,  were  typical  of  the 
great  company  of  women  delegates  who  added 
so  much  to  the  strength  of  the  Conference,  not 
only  in  discussion,  but  in  prayer.  Syria  was 
represented  by  Dr  Nelson  and  Professor  Craw- 
ford, of  Beirut  College,  while  from  the  Nile 
Valley  there  was  a  strong  delegation,  including 
a  very  intelligent  Coptic  convert,  Mitri  Effendi, 
whose  pencil  was  incessantly  busy  interpreting 
the  Conference  in  Arabic  for  the  Christians  of 

Egypt. 

Besides  the  four  delegates  from  East  Arabia, 
there  was  Dr  Young,  who  has  spent  sixteen  years 
on  the  cinder  heap  at  Aden,  and  still  looks  like 
his  name.  Rev.  H.  French  Ridley,  of  the 
China  Inland  Mission,  travelled  the  longest 
distance,   coming  all  the  way  from  Sining-fu, 


16         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

in  Western  China.  Mr  Enderlin,  of  the  Sudan 
Pioneer  Mission  from  Assuan,  Mr  Prip,  of  the 
Danish  Mission  at  Damascus,  with  other 
missionaries  from  Scandinavia  and  Germany, 
working  in  India,  gave  the  Conference  a  cosmo- 
poHtan  outlook. 

Here  were  men  and  women  who  had  for  years, 
many  of  them  in  great  lonehness,  faced  the 
problem  of  Islam,  met  together  in  mutual 
counsel,  with  one  hope  and  one  ideal  and  one 
great  goal  of  spiritual  ambition — the  evangelisa- 
tion of  the  Moslem  world.  Can  you  imagine 
them  seated  side  by  side  in  the  commodious 
chapel  of  the  Isabella  Thoburn  College,  facing 
a  great  map  of  the  Mohammedan  world  and 
sectional  maps  of  Islam  in  India  and  Russia  and 
Central  Asia ;  on  the  Speaker's  desk  a  globe, 
surmounted  by  the  Crescent  and  the  Cross,  and 
between  the  American  flag  and  the  British 
ensign,  high  over  the  heads  of  all  the  speakers, 
the  watchword  of  the  Conference,  "  Not  by 
might,  nor  by  an  army,  but  by  My  Spirit,  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts."  The  privilege  of  standing 
with  this  company  in  glorious  inspirational 
song,  of  kneeling  with  them  during  the  quiet 


THE  CONFERENCE  AT  LUCKNOW  17 

noonday  period  of  prayer  every  day,  and  of 
listening  as  someone  poured  out  his  very  soul 
in  petition  for  the  Moslem  world,  was  an  experi- 
ence never  to  be  forgotten.  And  then  who  can 
describe  the  dehght  of  interchanging  con- 
fidences between  sessions,  or  discussing  methods 
and  experiences  during  the  full  hours  of  the 
programme  ? 

In  the  thu'd  place,  there  was  the  inspiration 
of  the  papers,  carefully  prepared,  to  be  read  and 
discussed  five  hours  daily,  from  Monday  until 
Saturday.  Special  attention  was  first  given  to 
the  Pan-Islamic  movement,  its  genesis  and 
objective,  its  m^ethods,  and  how  they  affect 
the  problem  of  Moslem  evangehsation.  Speci- 
ally important  in  this  connection  was  the  able 
paper,  by  Rev.  Canon  E.  Sell,  on  the  Dervish 
Orders  in  Africa,  and  one  by  Mr  Simon  of 
Sumatra,  on  the  Progress  of  Islam  in  Malaysia. 
The  pohtical  changes  in  the  Moslem  world, 
so  startling  and  so  evidently  a  part  of  God's 
programme  for  the  winning  of  that  world,  were 
carefully  considered,  and  the  Governmental 
attitude  towards  Christian  missions,  especially 
that  of  Christian  governments  in  Africa  and  in 


18        DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

Asia,  was  ably  discussed.  For  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  Christian  missions  there  was  a 
careful  and  scientific  presentation  of  the  extent, 
the  need,  and  the  future  of  Islam  in  the  Russian 
Empire.  The  whole  of  Thursday  was  devoted 
to  the  subject,  "  The  Training  of  Mssionaries  " 
and  "  The  Preparation  of  Literature,"  while 
Friday  and  Saturday  were  given  to  "  Reform 
Movements  "  and  "  Work  Among  Moslems," 
in  all  its  interesting  and  varied  aspects.  A 
paper,  by  Dr  Speer,  on  "  The  Attitude  of  the 
Evangehst  toward  the  Moslem  Rehgion,"  and 
an  address  by  the  Bishop  of  Lahore,  summing 
up  the  practical  conclusions  of  the  Conference, 
together  formed  a  fitting  chmax  to  a  programme 
of  unflagging  interest. 

Lastly,  there  was  the  inspiration  of  prayer. 
The  preparations  for  the  Conference  were  made 
through  intercession.  Simultaneous  prayer 
meetings  for  it  were  held,  not  only  in  London 
at  Zion  College,  but  in  many  mission  stations, 
and  the  prayer  room  set  apart  was  Hterally 
always  open  and  seldom  unoccupied  by  groups 
of  delegates,  who  felt  that  through  prayer  alone 
was  victory  possible.     "  0  our  God,  wilt  Thou 


THE  CONFERENCE  AT  LUCKNOW  19 

not  judge  them  ?  For  we  have  no  might  against 
this  great  company  that  cometh  against  us, 
neither  know  we  what  to  do  ;  but  our  eyes  are 
upon  Thee." 

Among  the  many  important  resolutions  passed 
by  the  Conference,  which  will  in  due  time  reach 
the  churches,  there  is  none  of  greater  import- 
ance than  the  call  to  prayer : — "  The  Conference, 
being  convinced  that  the  present  apparent  in- 
abihty  of  the  Christian  Church  to  deal  effectively 
with  the  great  problem  of  the  evangelisation 
of  Mohammedans  is  due  above  all  else  to  the 
weakness  of  the  prayer-hfe,  ahke  in  the  home 
churches  and  in  the  branches  of  the  Church, 
which  are  springing  up  in  foreign  lands,  calls 
urgently  upon  Christendom  to  have  far  larger 
recourse  to  the  great  weapon  which  has  been 
put  into  her  hands  by  our  High  Priest,  and 
to  endeavour  largely  to  increase  the  number 
and  the  devotion  of  those  remembrancers  of 
the  Lord,  who  will  give  Him  no  rest  and  take 
no  rest  till  He  estabhsh  and  till  He  make 
Jerusalem  a  praise  in  the  earth. 

"At  the  present  time  the  great  moral  and 
spiritual  needs  of  the  Mohammedan  world,  and 


20         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

the  advance  of  Islam  among  pagan  races,  con- 
stitute an  appeal  to  the  Christiar  Church  to 
pray — with  an  urgency  which  cannot  be  exag- 
gerated, asking  most  earnestly  that  the  spirit  of 
grace  and  supplication  in  immensely  increased 
measure  may  be  granted  to  her." 

S.    W.    ZWEMER. 


Rev.  S.   M.  Zwemer,   D.D.,  P'.R.G.S.^  Convener  and 
Chairman  of  both   Conferences 


A  NEW  ERA  FOR  MOSLEM 
WOMANHOOD 

BY 

MISS  A.  VAN  SOMMER 


A  NEW  ERA  FOR  MOSLEM 
WOMANHOOD 

I.  Light  in  Turkey 

There  was  great  rejoicing  among  Turkish 
women  when  the  Constitution  was  proclaimed 
in  August  1908.  The  immediate  effect  was 
that  thousands  of  women  streamed  out  into 
the  streets  with  their  husbands  to  take  part 
in  the  general  cry  of  "  Liberty."  They  dis- 
carded their  veils  and  thought  that  a  new  era 
had  begun.  But  before  many  weeks  had  passed 
a  check  was  put  to  all  this.  The  word  went 
round  that  their  reHgion  did  not  permit  it. 
Then  began  many  complaints.  One  lady  said, 
"  We  have  worked  so  long  for  hberty,  and  now 
only  to  find  that  the  men  are  free ;  zve  have 
gained  nothing."  During  the  black  week  of 
Sultan  Abdul  Hamid's  restoration  to  power,  no 
woman  dared  show  herself  in  the  streets  of 
Constantinople.  Then  came  the  second  re- 
volution, and  fresh  hopes  were  stirred.      Five 

23 


24         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

hundred  women  went  to  the  ffinisters  and  said 
that  they  intended  to  discontinue  wearing  the 
veil.  The  reply  was,  "  You  may  do  it,  but 
the  responsibihty  will  be  yours ;  we  shall  not 
defend  you  if  you  suffer  for  it,"  so  they  did 
not  dare  do  it  openly.  Turkish  women  of  the 
younger  generation  rebel  against  the  veil.  It  is 
reduced  to  a  pretence  or  discarded  altogether, 
until  orders  are  apparently  issued  from  some 
mysterious  quarter  which  compel  the  resump- 
tion of  it  in  an  aggravated  form.  This  process 
repeats  itself  at  intervals ;  but  the  pheno- 
menon is  sufficiently  marked  to  show  that 
the  modern  women  of  Turkey  would  gladly 
discard  the  veil,  but  for  certain  influences  in 
high  quarters  to  which  they  are  compelled  to 
submit.  But  though  outward  quietness  now 
prevails,  a  ferment  is  going  on  underneath 
that  in  the  end  will  surely  come  to  the  surface, 
and  a  transformation  will  take  place.  The 
Turkish  women  are  not  unreasonable  in  their 
demands.  They  express  their  longing  to  be 
allowed  to  do  what  Christian  women  do  without 
criticism,  that  is,  to  go  about  with  their  husbands, 
to  meet  people  freely,  and  feel  that  the  ordinary 
habits    of    a   modest   woman   may   be   theirs. 


A  NEW  ERA  25 

These  thoughts  have  found  expression  in  the 
pubHc  papers.  Ladies  of  the  younger  genera- 
tion have  written  to  plead  their  cause.  They 
even  started  a  paper  of  their  own,  but  it  did 
not  last  the  year.  There  is  a  dead  weight  of 
pubHc  opinion  against  them.  Every  forward 
move  is  watched  and  commented  on.  But  to 
some  behind  the  scenes  the  future  is  bright  with 
hope.  They  say  that  for  years  the  women 
seem  to  have  been  gradually  preparing  them- 
selves to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  Uberty  when 
granted  them.  The  freedom  of  the  women 
largely  depends  on  the  freedom  of  the  husbands. 
Those  who  have  been  educated  out  of  Turkey 
wish  their  wives  and  daughters  to  have  more 
freedom,  but  the  majority  prefer  to  have  them 
shut  in  and  well  protected.  In  the  coast 
cities,  such  as  Salonica  and  Smyrna,  the  women 
are  more  advanced  than  in  the  towns  and 
villages  of  the  interior. 

In  Smyrna,  women  at  first  appeared  in  the 
streets  with  their  husbands,  walking  side  by 
side  instead  of  behind  them.  One  officer  was 
even  seen  to  give  his  arm  to  his  wife  ;  but  here 
too  there  is  a  pause,  and  as  yet  the  influence  of 
the  Reform  Movement  is  shght.     As  one  leaves 


26         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

the  coast  and  comes  to  the  people  of  the  inland 
provinces  the  old  order  of  things  prevails.  The 
part  that  Turkish  women  took  in  the  Armenian 
Massacres  shows  that  they  still  practise  the 
cruel  and  fanatical  conduct  which  has  char- 
acterised Islam  from  the  beginning.  At  one 
ancient  city  of  the  interior  the  first  effect  of 
the  Reform  Movement  was  to  arouse  bitter 
antagonism  to  the  progressive  party !  The 
first  hberal  governor  was  stoned  out  of  the  city 
for  saying  that  since  there  was  liberty  now,  and 
all  were  brothers,  it  would  not  be  necessary  to 
curse  Christians  every  Friday  in  the  Mosques. 

The  army  officers  and  governors  seem  to 
be  the  most  enhghtened  of  the  Tiu-ks  at  the 
present  time.  At  many  places  they  wish 
their  daughters  to  be  educated.  One  Pasha 
is  called  a  "  Giaour  "  ^  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city  of  which  he  is  governor,  because  he  sends 
his  daughters  to  school  in  Constantinople,  and 
shows  with  pride  the  letters  he  receives  from 
them.  Even  in  these  primitive  places  the 
Moslem  women  take  a  deUght  in  coming  to 
the  Mission  Schools  to  look  at  the  children 
working  and  playing ;  this  is  sure  to  lead  later  to 
their  wishing  to  send  their  own  children  to  school. 

^  An  Infidel. 


A  NEW  ERA  27 

At  present  the  main  work  in  most  places  is 
still  the  disarming  of  prejudice.  The  women 
are  always  anxious  for  the  missionaries  to  call 
upon  them.  One  of  our  correspondents  urges 
that  in  Constantinople  a  sort  of  clubhouse 
should  be  started  for  women,  where  they  might 
meet  each  other  freely,  have  lectures  and  social 
gatherings,  and  enjoy  personal  intercourse  with 
Christian  women,  without  scandal  or  remark 
from  anyone.  Tlie  influence  of  such  a  place 
would  be  far-reaching.  When  once  it  had 
been  estabhshed  in  Constantinople,  the  same 
plan  might  be  carried  out  in  other  places  on  a 
smaller  scale.  It  is  thought  that  the  desire  to 
learn  on  the  part  of  the  women  would  inchne 
them  to  come.  It  is  the  Turkish  women  them- 
selves who  proposed  this  undertaking,  and  we 
earnestly  trust  that  some  Christian  women 
from  England,  Germany  and  America  may  try 
to  carry  it  out.  We  must  adapt  our  methods 
to  the  circumstances  of  those  for  whom  we 
labour.  The  reports  which  reach  us  from 
different  parts  of  the  country  are  not  all  similar. 
From  one  place  we  are  told  by  a  missionary 
lady  doctor  that  as  yet  she  sees  no  reform 
movement  among  the  women,  and  no  Turkish 


28         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

schools  in  the  neighbourhood  for  girls,  while 
at  the  same  place  the  poorer  Turkish  women  in 
the  country  are  eager  to  hear  the  Gospel.  In 
the  homes  there  is  always  a  wiUingness  to  hear 
— but  no  desire  to  read.  The  men  agree  that, 
for  the  sake  of  their  future  motherhood,  it  would 
be  better  for  the  girls  to  be  educated — but  say, 
''  It  is  very  hard  for  us  to  break  through  an  old 
custom,  or  begin  a  new  one."  Another  writes  : 
"  Turkish  has  been  taught  for  some  time  in 
our  school,  and  we  constantly  urge  our  Armenian 
girls  to  visit  and  talk  with  their  Turkish  neigh- 
bours. The  only  entrance  into  Turkish  houses 
here  is  through  the  medical  work.  A  well- 
trained  midwife  taking  all  cases  and  going 
from  house  to  house  would  have  a  splendid 
influence.  The  native  midwives  have  had  no 
training  beyond  bearing  their  own  children 
and  assisting  their  neighbours."  "  Until  the 
Gospel  replaces  the  Koran,  Moslem  women  will 
remain  much  as  they  were  in  spite  of  all  "  re- 
form movements." 

The  present  Government  is  hostile  to  foreign 
schools.  Their  motto  is,  Turkey  for  Turks. 
The  Turks  of  the  interior  provide  very  few 
opportunities  for  the  education  of  women.     An 


A  NEW  ERA  29 

occasional  school  is  to  be  found,  but  the  educa- 
tion is  very  meagre,  and  the  instruction  of 
the  poorest  quality.  The  teaching  in  Mission 
Schools  is  mostly  given  in  the  Armenian 
language,  consequently  few  Turkish  girls  come. 
In  part  of  Asia  Minor  Arabic  is  the  language 
of  Moslems  and  Christians  aUke.  Here  some 
teaching  is  given  to  both.  It  seems  advisable 
that  more  opportunities  should  be  given  for 
Turkish  girls  to  be  taught  in  Turkish  by  those 
who  understand  the  language.  Some  of  the 
missionary  ladies  are  anxious  to  start  a  Turkish 
department  in  their  schools.  It  is  probably 
where  this  has  been  done  that  in  some  places  we 
hear  there  has  been  an  influx  of  Moslem  pupils. 
Reading  among  women  of  the  upper  classes  is 
much  more  common  than  formerly.  They 
read  papers  and  magazines,  but  at  present 
there  seems  no  desire  to  read  or  hear  of  Christ. 
A  thousand  other  things  absorb  their  thoughts. 
What  can  move  upon  these  blinded  souls  but 
the  Spirit  of  God  ?  We  cling  to  the  promises 
of  God,  and  seek  the  grace  of  prevaihng  prayer 
for  them. 

A  Turkish  woman,  who  was  converted  many 
years  ago,  spent  her  hfe  in  selhng  lace  at  the 


30         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

harems,  and  while  doing  so  used  the  opportunity 
to  speak  of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  her  customers. 
She  died  over  the  age  of  seventy  after  a  hfe  of 
ministry.  On  a  Friday,  the  Turkish  Sabbath, 
she  might  be  seen  in  the  centre  of  a  group  of 
women,  out  in  the  fields,  talking  to  them  of  her 
Saviour.  It  was  marvellous  that  her  life  was 
spared.  It  is  thought  that  one  of  the  most 
effectual  means  of  carrying  on  personal  work 
would  be  for  devoted  Christian  women  to  enter 
Turkish  homes  as  governesses.  The  Turkish 
women  are  very  fond  of  meeting  together  in 
companies  in  country  places  on  Friday  after- 
noons, so  this  would  give  a  good  opportunity 
of  talking  to  them,  and  influencing  them.  Any 
lady  doing  it  would,  however,  have  to  take  her 
life  in  her  hand,  as  it  would  be  fraught  with 
danger. 

A  leading  American  Missionary  writes  :  "  The 
Christian  Church  ought  to  send  to  these  regions 
women  who  shall  devote  themselves  to  work 
for  Moslem  women.  Until  then  these  poor 
women  will  have  no  desire  for  the  blessings 
which  Christ  alone  can  give  them."  Another 
says  :  "I  beHeve  that  good  people  with  the 
best  and  highest  motives  who  estabhsh  schools 


A  NEW  ERA  31 

which  are  not  of  a  distinctively  Christian  and 
missionary  character  in  these  countries  are 
wasting  their  efforts  and  money." 

I  do  not  think  there  is  any  unwilhngness  to 
hear  of  Christ,  but  there  seems  a  lack  of  oppor- 
tunity. There  is  no  hardening  against  Cln-ist, 
because  so  httle  is  known  of  Him.  His  appeal 
to  the  heart  of  the  Moslem  women  has  yet  to 
be  heard.  In  the  estimation  of  those  who  are 
working  in  Moslem  lands  the  subject  of  the 
development  and  education  of  women  is  con- 
sidered the  most  vital  one  in  the  whole  Moslem 
question,  while  the  Moslem  question  is  con- 
ceded to  be  the  most  important  one  before  the 
Christian  Church  to-day. 

II.  Light  in  Persia 

We  have  gathered  the  following  information 
from  different  missionary  ladies  in  the  capital, 
Teheran,  and  in  the  country  districts.  An 
American  Missionary  WTites  : — 

"  Among  the  changes  taking  place  con- 
sequent upon  the  efforts  of  the  NationaHsts 
of  Persia  to  estabhsh  a  constitutional  govern- 
ment,  there  is   nothing   so   evident   upon  the 


32         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

surface  as  those  which  concern  the  women. 
From  the  beginning  the  universal  feehng  pre- 
vailed that  education  was  the  great  need  of 
the  country,  a  solution  of  all  problems,  a 
remedy  for  all  evils.  Early  in  the  movement 
the  leaders  felt  the  importance  for  educating 
girls  as  well  as  boys.  The  women  w^ere  quick 
to  take  advantage  of  the  permission.  Rapidly 
acquiring  some  independence,  they  are  taking 
the  initiative.  They  have  founded  a  society 
for  the  estabHshment  of  schools  and  general 
enlightenment  of  women  ;  they  have  elected  an 
Armenian  lady  as  their  President,  and  hold 
meetings  regularly  for  discussion  and  con- 
sultation. 

"  The  schools  for  Persian  girls  which  have 
sprung  up  in  every  quarter  are  at  present 
taught  by  women  and  girls  who  themselves 
have  very  limited  knowledge  of  letters  and, 
of  course,  no  training. 

"  However,  they  are  acquiring  other  things 
much  more  rapidly  than  the  knowledge  derived 
from  books — for  instance,  in  the  matter  of  dress. 
The  Blission  and  the  Armenian  Schools  may 
have  had  influence  in  estabhshing  the  fashion 
of   dress  for  the  schoolroom,   where  the  girls 


A  NEW  ERA  33 

all  wear  long  skirts,  and  the  house  veil  is 
discarded.  This  fashion  is  rapidly  spreading 
among  all  classes.  Many  wealthy  ladies 
display  with  pride  their  Paris  gowns,  many 
more  may  be  seen  for  sale  that  have  been 
made  here.  These  are  generally  an  adapta- 
tion of  the  European  style  to  suit  their  own 
ideas  and  tastes.  Short  waists  and  skirts  are 
elaborately  trimmed  in  a  fashion  all  their  own, 
but  still  easily  recognised  as  modelled  after 
foreign  dress.  This  is  more  important  as  a 
reform  movement  than  may  at  first  appear. 
Already  in  the  streets,  in  the  mosques  even 
(it  is  said),  Moslem  women  are  seen  with  long 
skirts  under  outdoor  veil.  The  influence  of 
Tiu-key  is  undoubtedly  in  this,  as  well  as  in 
the  almost  disappearance  of  the  white  muslin 
face  veil  (except  for  the  poorer  people)  and  the 
adoption  of  the  small  black  square  of  horse- 
hair which  is  so  much  more  easily  adjusted, 
and  faces  are  not  nearly  so  carefully  concealed 
as  in  other  days.  Such  changes  mean  much 
here  where  all  these  things  more  or  less  pertain 
to  reHgion  and  are  regulated  by  law  or  tradition. 
"It  is  not  surprising  that  some  view  this, 
with  the  adoption  of  European  furniture,  table 

0 


34         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

utensils,  cigarettes  instead  of  water  pipe,  etc., 
as  a  departure  from  the  faith  and  a  following 
of  other  religions,  even  regarding  such  irregu- 
larities as  the  cause  of  all  the  disordered 
conditions  of  the  country.  Thinking  people 
must  see  a  danger  in  the  girls  too  suddenly 
acquiring  independence.  Their  environment, 
habits,  heredity,  lax  moral  laws  of  their  religion, 
their  own  lack  of  self-control,  with  ignorant  and 
incompetent  leadership,  make  it  very  possible 
that  many  disasters  may  result. 

"  There  are  some  Conservative  people  among 
the  Persians  who  distrust  all  these  new  move- 
ments and  deplore  the  freedom  the  girls  are 
acquiring  by  passing  through  the  streets  going 
to  and  from  school. 

"  It  would  seem  that  educating  the  girls 
ought  at  least  to  prevent  the  very  early 
marriages  and  also  change  the  laws  relating 
to  marriage  and  divorce.  Doubtless  it  will 
eventually  do  so,  but  at  the  present  time  we 
find  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  girls  attending 
Persian  schools  are  yoimg  married  women, 
often  mothers.  There  are  even  cases  where 
the  mother-in-law  takes  care  of  the  child  to 
permit   the   young   mother   to   go   to   school ; 


A  NEW  ERA  85 

this  certainly  shows  their  appreciation  of  the 
opportunity.  So  far,  then,  marriage  has  not 
been  found  a  bar  to  study. 

"  There  is  very  much  to  be  desired  in  the 
so-called  reforms.  It  is  all  apparently  outward 
and  not  inward,  i.e,  expressing  no  change 
of  heart  or  contrition  for  sin.  Not  all  that 
they  have  adopted  is  good ;  with  the  com- 
mendable change  in  bad  customs  and  the 
efforts  to  obtain  education  have  come  many 
of  the  vices  of  Europe. 

Wickedness  is  much  increased,  while  the 
decHne  of  faith  and  observance  of  Islam  only 
leaves  the  people  with  no  restraining  motive. 
The  problem  of  the  Missionary  is  the  same 
old  difficult  one,  how  to  bring  the  Gospel  to 
impenitent  hearts. 

There  is  enlarged  opportunity  with  greater 
freedom  of  thought,  speech  and  action  with 
less  rehgious  feehng.  A  rehgion  that  means 
a  changed  nature  can  only  be  comprehended 
and  reahsed  by  the  Moslem  mind  when  it  is 
taught  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  We  therefore 
plead  that  all  who  hear  of  the  conditions  of 
sin  and  ignorance  that  prevail  in  Persia  will 
join   us   in   praying   that   God   will   send   His 


36         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

Holy  Spirit  to  open  the  minds  and  hearts  of 
men  to  receive  the  Gospel  message ;  that 
the  Missionaries  may  be  taught  by  the  Spirit 
how  to  present  the  truth  that  it  may  indeed 
be  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  and  so 
may  individuals  be  regenerated  while  as  a 
nation  they  are  seeking  reform." 

A  Missionary  writes : — "  We  feel  a  great 
desire  to  help  these  women  who  are  so  much 
in  earnest.  One,  whose  father  was  a  physician 
of  some  rank  and  wealth,  and  who,  dying, 
left  a  sum  of  money  and  a  piece  of  land  to 
build  a  school  for  girls,  has  opened  three  or 
four  schools.  But  she  is  intelligent  enough 
to  know  that  they  are  very  primitive,  and 
would  gladly  have  help. 

^'  Our  Mission  Schools  are  recognised  as  far 
and  away  the  best  from  an  educational  stand- 
point, but  doubtless  the  fact  that  they  are 
Christian  schools  causes  some  dissatisfaction. 
Moreover,  the  Persians  want  to  have  their  own 
schools,  to  be  independent  of  other  nations. 
We  have,  however,  as  many  pupils  as  we  can 
accommodate  in  both  schools. 

"It  is  surprising  to  see  how  old  many  of 
the  girls  are  who  come  to  school,  some  of  them 


A  NEW  ERA  37 

well  in  their  teens.  All  pupils  study  the  Bible 
and  hear  of  Christ  without  apparent  objection, 
but  many  of  them  do  not  intend  to  leave 
Islam  or  Behaism ;  for  we  must  admit  that 
the  latter  sect  are  more  progressive  in  the 
matter  of  education.  It  is  claimed  that  there 
are  many  of  this  sect  also  in  the  ParHament, 
but  there  are  certainly  many  Moslems  who  are 
very  patriotic  and  zealous  for  reform,  yet  just 
as  zealous  for  Islam,  not  perceiving  that  the 
two  are  incompatible.  I  cannot  think  that 
the  two  can  far  advance  side  by  side.  The 
one  fact  of  educating  and  emancipating  woman, 
it  would  seem,  must  be  a  great  blow  to 
the  whole  doctrine  of  Islam.  As  the  men's 
minds  are  developed  it  is  difficult  to  see  how 
they  can  still  hold  many  of  their  old  ideas  and 
practices. 

"  Personally  I  think  there  are  two  great 
barriers  to  doing  anything  more  for  Persia 
than  ministering  to  the  physical  needs  of  the 
very  poor,  teaching  as  many  as  we  can,  preach- 
ing Christ  and  Hving  Christianity  in  their 
midst.  These  two  obstacles  are,  first,  Islam, 
which  rises  as  a  stone  wall  to  resist  every  real 
true  ideal ;    secondly,   their  innate  feehng  of 


88         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

superiority  to  every  other  nation  or  adherent 
of  any  other  faith.  They  may  imitate,  but 
they  will  work  out  their  own  ideas,  and  so 
develop  themselves,  probably  making  them- 
selves beUeve  that  they  have  originated  the 
idea.  But  if  we  can  get  them  to  take  Christ 
as  their  Lord  the  whole  case  will  be  different. 

"  I  have  heard  this  morning  of  a  newspaper 
being  printed  by  two  Persian  ladies,  in  the 
interests  of  women  and  their  homes.  We 
know  one  of  the  women :  she  has  had  no 
special  advantage  or  education ;  another  evi- 
dence of  their  confidence  in  themselves." 

The  report  which  reaches  us  from  Kerman 
and  other  country  districts  varies  considerably 
from  that  of  the  cities.  An  EngHsh  Missionary 
writes  : — "  At  present  the  reform  movement 
here  only  touches  the  men,  as  the  women  are 
still  quite  uneducated ;  very  few  can  read, 
even  among  the  upper  classes.  There  is  not 
a  single  school  for  Moslem  girls  in  this  part 
of  Persia.  It  is  difficult  to  say  how  a  girl's 
school  woidd  progress,  but  just  now,  so  rapidly 
is  thought  changing  here,  that  in  all  pro- 
bability a  girls'  school  would  make  good  head- 


A  NEW  ERA  89 

way.  Six  months  ago  a  wealthy  old  gentleman 
of  high  birth,  gave  a  site,  in  the  town  itself,  for 
a  girls'  school,  and  granted  £200  towards  its 
building  ;  but,  partly  through  his  recent  death, 
and  the  difficulty  of  getting  women  Moslem 
teachers  down  to  Kerman  from  Teheran,  the 
prospect  for  the  time  being  is  hanging  fire. 
However,  it  proves  the  advance  in  thought 
of  some  of  the  forward  men  in  Kerman. 

"  The  education  now  actually  available 
here  for  girls  is,  first,  that  which  is  given  in 
the  higher  famihes,  viz.,  a  Mulla  comes  daily 
and  teaches  Persian,  and  some  little  Arabic 
bearing  on  the  Koran,  in  a  parrot-Uke  fashion, 
to  the  little  gatherings  of  the  boys  and  girls 
of  the  house ;  and  secondly,  among  the  less 
well  to  do,  a  httle  teaching  is  given  by  a  few 
women  teachers  to  small  gatherings  of  girls. 
I  have  found  in  hospital  and  town,  that  both 
men  and  women  are  quite  ready  to  Hsten  to 
the  Word  of  God.  There  is,  too,  more  possi- 
bility of  confession  of  faith  in  Christ,  even 
in  comparison  with  seven  years  ago ;  but 
there  may  be,  and  probably  would  be,  if 
the  confession  was  a  bright  one,  all  the  accom- 
panying persecution  which  the   Mohammedan 


40         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

teaching  carries  with  it.  However,  there  is 
not,  I  think,  any  more  hardening  against  Him, 
thank  God,  rather  the  contrary.  The  veil, 
though  rigorously  adopted  outside  the  houses, 
is  not  always  adhered  to  in  the  house ;  male 
friends  and  acquaintances  frequently  being 
present  with  the  ladies  of  the  house  unveiled. 

"  The  influence  of  the  Reform  Movement 
has,  as  yet,  scarcely  touched  Hamadan,  except 
among  a  few  wealthy  famihes,  whose  hus- 
bands, brothers,  or  sons,  have  been  studying  or 
traveUing  in  Em'ope.  Some  of  them,  in  matters 
of  dress,  are  trying  to  follow  French  fashions. 
As  for  twenty  years  at  least,  we  have  always 
had  some  Moslem  girls  in  our  school,  and  have 
continually  striven  to  impress  upon  the  women 
the  inexpediency  and  wrong  of  sending  little 
girls  into  homes,  where  they  are  strangers, 
just  when  they  need  their  mother's  careful 
guidance ;  the  time  in  school  has  in  many 
cases  gradually  lengthened,  and  this  term  we 
have  many  older  girls  in  the  Boarding 
Department  of  om'  school.  In  all,  this  year, 
we  have  had  about  twenty-seven  Moslem 
boarders,  some  of  them  would  in  the  old  time 


A  NEW  ERA  41 

have  been  given  years  ago  to  husbands.  I 
have  had  special  opportunities  for  telling 
Moslem  women  of  Christ,  and  they  Hsten  as 
well,  if  not  better,  than  they  have  before. 
As  in  all  reHgions  the  women  are  much  more 
tenacious  in  their  hold  on  Islam  than  the 
men  are.  We  have  one  woman,  a  member 
of  the  Church,  who  says  she  confesses  she  is 
a  Christian  wherever  she  goes,  but  I  doubt 
if  ever  she  is  beHeved." 

Another  writes  : — ''  Tabriz  is  an  isolated 
station  and  a  difl&cult  one,  owing  to  the  stony 
hearts  of  both  Mohammedans  and  Armenians. 
The  latter  are  mostly  under  the  influence  of 
the  Revolutionaries,  who  are  real  Atheists — 
they  have  large  schools  and  dehberately  teach 
the  children  that  there  is  no  God.  They  are 
not  willing  to  hear  anytliing  that  may  soften 
their  hearts,  preferring  the  hard  feehngs  of 
revenge,  anger,  hate.  It  seems  terrible  to  me 
to  know  this.  Mohammedans  are  eagerly 
seeking  education  in  our  schools,  girls  also. 
Many  have  been  refused  because  the  teachers 
are  so  few.  It  is  encouraging  that  they  want 
to  come  to  us  ;    more  will  now  do  so,  as  a 


42         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

new  teacher  for  the  girls'  school  is  on  her  way 
to  Tabriz." 

The  following  appeared  recently  in  The 
Times  on  the  Women  of  Persia  : — 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  probably  not  one  girl 
in  a  thousand  twenty  years  ago  ever  received 
any  education.  When  the  parents  were  rich 
enough,  tuition  of  a  sort  was  given  at  home, 
but  in  the  case  of  poorer  persons  it  was  enough 
if  their  sons  were  taught  to  read  and  write. 
Even  these  superior  accompHshments  seem 
quickly  forgotten,  for  it  is  no  rare  thing  in  a 
household  of  six  Persian  servants  to  find 
that  not  one  can  write,  and  the  cook,  when 
he  presents  his  weekly  account,  indicates  by 
rough  drawings  the  number  of  eggs,  chickens, 
and  legs  of  mutton  consumed. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  speculate  how  far 
the  seclusion  of  women  is  the  result  of  natural 
prejudice  and  how  far  that  of  the  absence 
of  education.  Sufficient  to  say  that  on  the  day 
when  women  join  openly  in  the  affairs  of  the 
men  a  great  change  for  the  better  will  take 
place  in  the  relations  between  Europeans  and 
Persians.     As  it  is  at  present,  a  European  can 


A  NEW  ERA  43 

only  half  know  a  Persian,  because  he  is  never 
admitted  to  the  intimacy  of  the  home  Ufe. 
It  may  well  be  that  in  twenty  years'  time, 
if  the  women's  education  movement  continues 
to  prosper  and  the  old  prejudices  die  away, 
from  contact  with  the  outside  world,  Persian 
ladies  will  be  taking  part  in  the  social  Ufe  of 
the  foreign  community. 

"  Some  thirty  years  ago  the  American  Pres- 
byterian Missionary  Society  began  to  take  an 
active  interest  in  the  education  of  girls  in 
Teheran.  A  school  was  opened  for  a  dozen 
Armenian  girls  ;  it  was  for  many  years  the  only 
school  of  its  kind  in  the  place.  The  annual 
enrolment  did  not  reach  fifty,  though  the  girls 
were  given  free  tuition,  books,  food  and  lodging. 
In  1876  the  first  Moslem  was  admitted,  but  it 
is  only  since  1900  that  Mohammedan  girls 
have  been  coming  with  any  degree  of  freedom. 
Prejudices  were  strong,  and  it  was  only  by 
paying  surprise  visits  that  Mohammedan  parents 
were  gradually  able  to  overcome  their  attitude 
of  suspicion.  Last  year,  however,  2S5  girls 
were  enrolled,  of  whom  120  were  Mohammedans  ; 
instead    of   everything   being   given   free,    the 


44         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

patrons  of  the  school  paid  over  £200  towards 
the  cost  of  tuition  and  stationery.  Girls  were 
admitted  at  seven  years  of  age,  but  it  has  been 
found  difficult  to  keep  them  for  the  entire 
twelve-year  course.  Nevertheless,  five  classes, 
each  consisting  of  thirteen  girls,  have  graduated, 
and  nearly  eight  hundred  pupils  have  passed 
through  the  school  since  its  foundation. 

"  During  the  last  year  or  two  the  Persians 
have  become  awake  to  the  necessity  of  doing 
something  themselves  on  similar  lines.  It  is 
stated  that  there  are  now  more  than  fifty  girls' 
schools  in  Teheran.  Several  of  the  older  girls 
at  the  American  School  are  under  training  to 
become  teachers,  while  a  few  of  them  are  already 
teaching  in  the  Persian  schools  during  part  of 
the  day.  Recently  the  head  of  one  of  these 
schools  paid  a  visit  to  the  American  School,  and 
expressed  her  dehght  at  the  "  blackboards  that 
do  not  rub  off,'  and  at  '  the  nice  desks  and  clear 
maps.'  '  If  this  school  in  its  perfection  were 
known,'  she  said  to  a  member  of  the  American 
Mission,  '  you  would  have  a  thousand  girls 
begging  for  admission.  I  have  visited  every 
school  in  the  city,  and  only  here  have  I  found 
real  learning.'     Another  visitor  to  the  school 


A  NEW  ERA  45 

remarked  on  leaving,  '  I  wish  my  wife  had  been 
educated.  I  want  my  daughter  to  take  her 
diploma,  and  then  give  her  hfe  to  educational 
work  for  the  women  of  Persia.'  " 

This  movement  is  in  its  infancy,  but  the  fact 
that  last  April,  for  the  first  time,  Persian  women 
held  a  large  meeting  in  Teheran  to  discuss 
problems  of  education,  seems  to  suggest  that 
the  education  of  woman  will  play  an  important 
part  in  the  future  evolution  of  Persia. 

As  in  other  Moslem  lands,  the  Christian 
education  and  training  of  the  younger  genera- 
tion of  girls  is  the  main  hope  for  the  future. 
It  needs  the  hfe  devotion  of  more  gifted  and 
consecrated  Christian  women. 

As  reading  seems  to  be  the  one  accompKsh- 
ment  most  eagerly  sought,  we  may  earnestly 
hope  that  writers  may  be  raised  up  who  shall 
make  it  their  aim  to  prepare  books  and  papers 
permeated  by  Christian  teaching  for  the  girls 
and  women  of  Persia. 

We  cannot  but  think  that  the  independence 
of  character,  which  takes  the  form  of  self- 
confidence,  as  mentioned  by  some  of  our  corre- 
spondents, may  become  a  most  valuable  aid 
in  the  upHfting  of  those  who  have  been  despised 


46         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

and  downtrodden.  An  eager  pressing  forward, 
regardless  of  incompetence,  will  lead  to  the  dis- 
covery of  powers  hitherto  dormant,  and  this 
discovery  may,  and  we  trust  will,  create  a 
deeper  and  more  widespread  realisation  on  the 
part  of  the  women  of  their  need  of  teaching, 
and  also  a  wiUingness  to  turn  to  those  who  are 
prepared  and  able  to  help  them. 

III.  Light  in  Egypt 

There  is  nothing  as  yet  going  on  in  Egypt  that 
amounts  to  a  reform  movement  among  the 
women.  They  have  too  long  accepted  their 
inferior  position  uncomplainingly  to  aspire  to 
anything  better.  It  seems  as  though  others 
must  do  so  for  them.  Strange  to  say  it  is  the 
men  who  at  present  are  the  principal  ones  to 
speak  out  on  the  subject.  A  prominent  Moslem 
has  recently  pubhshed  a  book  on  the  emancipa- 
tion of  woman,  which  has  been  widely  read. 
A  few  years  ago,  another  writer  brought  out  a 
book  called  "  The  New  Woman."  There  is  a 
dawning  consciousness  amongst  the  men  that 
their  home  Hf  e  might  be  improved.  They  would 
Hke  to  have  more  companionable  wives.  The 
first  result  of  this  is  that,  while  frequently  now 


A  NEW  ERA  47 

treating  their  wives  with  contempt,  they  aim 
for  something  better  in  their  daughters.  A  few 
years  ago  it  was  hard  to  get  parents  to  allow 
their  girls  to  attend  school  at  all.  When  they 
did  come,  they  were  not  allowed  to  remain  long, 
and  were  married  at  the  age  of  twelve.  But 
now  we  find  the  Government  trying  to  en- 
courage female  education  by  giving  higher 
grants  for  girls  than  for  boys  in  subsidising 
village  schools.  They  have  also  estabHshed 
girls'  schools  in  the  chief  towns,  and  have  pro- 
vided for  their  training  as  nurses,  midwives, 
and  teachers.  The  healthiest  sign  of  the  times 
is  the  increasing  number  of  girls  who  are  wiUing 
to  be  trained.  The  age  of  marriage  is  also 
rising,  especially  in  the  upper  classes,  so  that 
their  daughters  have  more  opportunity  of  being 
educated. 

The  Mission  Schools  are  undoubtedly  the 
best  in  the  country,  as  the  girls  not  only  acquire 
a  good  education,  but  are  trained  in  character 
and  conduct ;  the  parents  fully  recognise  this. 
The  IVIission  Schools,  however,  only  form  one 
item  in  the  whole  provision  for  female  education. 

Other  schools  are  : — 

1st.  Government  Schools,  including  Primary, 


48         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

Secondary  and  Normal  Day  and  Board- 
ing Schools. 

(These  are  excellently  managed,  and 
are  quite  up  to  date,  no  expense  being 
spared.  They  have  a  large  staff  of 
trained  teachers,  EngHsh  and  native. 
The  fees  are  reasonable,  but  out  of  the 
reach  of  the  lower  middle  class,  from 
which  the  Mission  Schools  chiefly  draw). 

2nd.  Government-aided  Kuttabs  or  pre- 
paratory schools.  These  are  cheap  but 
inferior.  Girls  are  generally  mixed  with 
boys,  and  this  is  a  recognised  disadvan- 
tage as  compared  with  Mssion  Schools. 

Brd.  Private  Moslem  Schools  which  are 
rapidly  growing.  These  are  numerous 
and  large ;  carried  on  by  societies  or 
endowed  by  individuals.  For  standard 
of  education  and  the  fees,  they  are  com- 
parable to  Mission  Schools,  but  they  are 
generally  wanting  in  discipline  and  tone. 

4th.  Coptic  Schools  which  receive  govern- 
ment grants  on  condition  of  teaching  the 
Koran  to  Moslem  children. 

5th.  Roman  Catholic  Schools. 

It   is    noticed   that   educated   girls   have   a 


A  NEW  ERA  49 

tendency  to  inbibe  Nationalist  ideas,  while  their 
ambition  generally  is  to  imitate  the  French. 

It  is  too  early  to  speak  of  any  general  effect 
in  the  direction  of  the  women's  wilHngness  to 
receive  Christ,  for  the  number  of  educated 
Moslem  women  is  still  exceedingly  small,  and 
among  them  mission  work  is  practically  non- 
existent, except  through  the  immediate  agency 
of  the  schools.  Judging,  however,  from  a 
certain  number  of  individual  cases,  it  may  be 
said  that  the  girls  at  school  are  certainly  more 
ready  to  hsten  to  Christian  teaching — objections 
come  not  so  much  from  them  as  from  their 
parents.  Also  Moslem  families,  when  visited, 
will  speak  much  more  freely  than  they  once 
would.  At  the  same  time  it  may  be  considered 
as  impossible  for  a  woman  to  confess  Christ 
openly  at  her  home.  With  scarcely  an  exception, 
the  known  cases  of  converts  have  been  those 
who  have  been  under  the  guardianship  of  the 
Mission,  in  boarding-school  or  hospital.  There 
is  the  insuperable  difficulty  that  no  woman  (with 
the  possible  occasional  exception  of  a  widow)  is 
ever  legally  free  under  the  Moslem  code. 

There  is  a  shght  change  observable  in  the 
wearing   of   the  veil.     Some  women   are   now 


50         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

seen  with  their  faces  completely  veiled,  this 
being  possibly  the  result  of  their  having  to  go 
about  more  freely  in  the  streets  to  school  or 
hospital  or  other  work.  On  the  other  hand, 
many  of  the  upper  classes  are  imitating  the 
French  as  far  as  possible,  and  reducing  the  veil 
to  the  merest  pretence  by  using  the  finest 
gauze.  Many  also  are  seen  with  their  arms 
bare  to  the  elbow,  a  proceeding  which  is 
anathema  to  the  orthodox. 

What  we  have  said  so  far  relates  to  the  present 
condition  of  women's  education  in  Egypt. 
No  doubt,  those  who  remember  what  it  was 
thirty  or  forty  years  ago,  are  deeply  conscious 
of  the  change  which  has  been  gradually  wrought. 
It  is  specially  noticeable  that  the  second  and 
third  generation  of  girls,  whose  mothers  and 
grandmothers  have  been  sent  to  Mssion  Schools 
in  their  childhood,  show  a  marked  improvement 
in  their  whole  character  and  abihty  to  learn. 
They  come  to  school  free  from  prejudice  and 
fear  :  some  of  these  are  now  taking  their  places 
as  fully  educated,  cultivated  women.  When 
men  begin  to  reahse  still  more  what  a  change 
this  will  make  in  their  home  Hfe  there  will  be 
a  new  ambition  amongst  them  to  have  such 


A  NEW  ERA  51 

wives  and  mothers,  so  emancipation  will  sm*ely 
come.  Women  will  earn  their  confidence  and 
respect. 

With  regard  to  social  life,  it  still  remains  the 
same.  The  law  of  Islam  prevails  :  this  means 
oft-repeated  divorce,  and  the  gradual  sinking 
into  premature  graves  or  neglected  old  age  of 
the  greater  part  of  Egypt's  women.  We  want 
a  new  public  opinion  to  be  created  on  this 
subject  and  a  new  earnest  endeavour  on  the 
part  of  men  to  set  wrong  things  right.  They 
will  reap  a  reward  in  the  peace  and  happiness 
of  their  homes,  now  too  often  the  scene  of 
quarrelUng  and  misery,  the  conversation  being 
nothing  but  unclean  and  empty  gossip.  It  is 
the  right  to  keep  the  women  in  their  condition 
of  bondage,  and  the  right  to  retain  Hcense  for 
themselves  unrebuked,  that  has  been  the  curse 
of  the  men  of  Islam.  When  this  is  recognised, 
the  day  of  Islam  will  close ;  a  brighter  morn 
will  rise  for  both  men  and  women.  The  in- 
articulate bitter  cry  of  the  heart  of  a  Moslem 
women  will  be  answered.  Firmly  do  we  be- 
Heye  this  can  never  be  until  Christ  is  hfted  up 
amongst  them,  and  until  they  are  drawn  to 
Him. 


SIGNS  OF  PROGRESS  IN  INDIA 

BY 

MISS  A.  DE  SELINCOURT 
Allahabad,  India 


SIGNS  OF  PROGRESS  IN  INDIA 

Owing  to  my  absence  from  India  it  has  been 
difficult  to  get  possession  of  the  facts  necessary 
to  make  this  paper  as  complete  a  record  of  the 
present  position  of  Moslem  women  in  India 
as  could  have  been  wished.  A  great  many  to 
whom  I  ventured  to  write  for  information  have 
not  repUed ;  I  am  the  more  grateful  to  those 
who  in  the  midst  of  many  claims  generously 
found  time  to  send  full  and  careful  answers 
to  my  questions.  It  is  upon  the  information 
they  have  given  and  the  opinions  they  have 
expressed  that  tliis  paper  is  mainly  based. 

Social  Development 

The  number  of  Moslem  women  in  India 
approximates  to  30,000,000.  Not  very  much 
in  the  way  of  social  advance  is  reported  from 
Madras  or  Bengal  or  yet  from  the  greater  part 
of  North  India,  but  in  Bombay  and  the  Deccan 
as  also  in  Lahore  and  in  a  few  other  northern 
centres,    Moslem    ladies    seem    to    be    coming 

56 


56         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

markedly  to  the  front.  One  hears  of  many 
clubs  and  other  associations  carried  on  by  these 
ladies  themselves,  both  for  mutual  improve- 
ment and  also  for  organised  charitable  effort  on 
behalf  of  poorer  Moslem  women.  In  Bombay 
Moslems  attend  an  Indian  Ladies'  Gymkhana, 
and  the  more  gifted  among  them  give  lectures 
in  a  Bombay  Hindu  Ladies'  Club  on  such  sub- 
jects as  Temperance,  Women's  Influence,  etc. 
Parda  is  considerably  relaxed  among  Moslem 
ladies  of  Bombay ;  some  of  them  have  even 
visited  England,  and  not  a  few  are  highly 
educated  and  enlightened  women.  Some  write 
articles  for  leading  papers  and  keenly  desire 
to  keep  abreast  of  the  times.  In  the  United 
Porvinces  and  the  Punjab  several  good  weekly 
and  monthly  papers  are  issued  for  Mohammedan 
women,  such  as  the  Tahzib-ul-Niswa,  Sharif 
Bih%  Rafiq-ul-Nizwa,  Khatun,  Asmat  and 
others ;  some  of  these  have  Moslem  ladies  for 
their  editors,  and  a  large  number  of  their  con- 
tributors are  also  Mohammedan  women. 

A  Christian  B.  A.  whose  mother  was  a  convert 
from  Islam  writes  me  as  follows  : — "  Seeing 
the  signs  of  the  times  in  the  Moslem  Kingdom, 
one   cannot   help   seeing   that   Mohammedans 


SIGNS  OF  PROGRESS  IN  INDIA      57 

no  longer  wish  to  remain  in  the  background. 
The  women,  it  seems  to  me,  are  themselves 
studying  for  their  own  cause,  desiring  legiti- 
mate rights  and  freedom.  Mohammedan  ladies 
are  physically  strong ;  their  emotions  and 
passions  are  also  strong,  and  one  of  the  chief 
traits  of  their  moral  nature  is  great  tenacity 
of  purpose  and  strength  of  determination. 
I  notice  that  their  artistic  feehngs  are  also  keen. 
In  any  good  society  they  appeal  with  their 
manners  and  conversation  to  the  hearts  of  their 
hearers.  With  aU  these  advantages  I  think 
that  Mohammedan  ladies,  given  the  proper 
training  and  opportunity,  cannot  fail  to  take 
a  leading  part  in  moulding  the  destiny  of  the 
Moslem  people." 

There  is  a  great  sphere  at  the  present  time 
in  every  big  Moslem  centre  in  India  for  English 
missionaries  with  the  kind  of  gifts  required 
to  run  "  Time  and  Talents "  branches  in 
England  who  will  devote  their  whole  time 
to  such  service  as  has  been  carried  on  for  some 
years  among  Parsees  in  connection  with  the 
Missionary  Settlement  for  University  Women 
in  Bombay.  We  need  to  give  a  larger  place 
in  our  missionary  plans  to  what  has  been  well 


58         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

termed  the  Ministry  of  Friendship.  It  means 
infinite  expenditure  of  time  and  sympathy  and 
love  to  place  ourselves  alongside  of  these  women, 
to  enter  into  their  Uves,  to  share  their  aspira- 
tions in  so  far  as  these  are  rightful ;  it  means 
willingness  also  to  lay  ourselves  open  to  not 
a  few  snubs  and  repulses.  In  many  ways 
it  is  harder  than  contact  with  the  poorer  classes, 
who  often  quickly  and  gratefully  respond,  and 
do  not  so  speedily  pull  us  up  by  their  hot 
resentment  the  instant  we  show  the  cloven 
hoof  of  our  fancied  superiority  and  behave 
as  if  we  had  come  to  India  to  "  work  among 
them,"  rather  than  to  love  them  and  seek 
their  friendship.  But  surely  this  Ministry  of 
Friendship  is  the  attitude  most  hke  our  Master — 
the  only  attitude  that  will  commend  Christ 
to  India  and  win  India  for  Him. 


Educational  Development 

It  is  calculated  that  taking  India  as  a  whole 
seven  women  in  every  thousand  are  literate  ; 
education  among  Moslems  is  below  even  this 
poor  average.  Exact  statistics  are  for  obvious 
reasons  impossible  to  obtain,  but  it  is  probable 


For  Want  of  a  Friend 


SIGNS  OF  PROGRESS  IN  INDIA      59 

that  while  an  infinitesimally  small  proportion 
of  the  poorer  women  know  not  even  the  alphabet, 
nearly  all  upper  class  Moslem  women  are  able 
to  read  the  Quran  more  or  less  well,  though 
that  is  in  most  cases  the  extent  of  their  learning. 
UntU  quite  recent  years,  as  even  still  in  the 
most  orthodox  and  secluded  families,  it  was 
considered  unsuitable  for  a  women  to  learn 
to  write,  lest  she  should  be  tempted  to  use 
the  knowledge  in  wrong  ways  ;  and  as  to  the 
third  "  R  "  what  need  is  there  for  that,  since 
daily  domestic  accounts,  aU  the  finance  en- 
trusted to  the  women  folk,  can  be  easily  and 
correctly  kept  with  the  aid  of  beans  and  pebbles 
or  of  charcoal  strokes  on  the  wall  ? 

Moslems  are  distinctly  behind  Hindus  at 
the  present  moment  in  their  desire  for  women's 
education.  In  one  important  Moslem  centre 
in  the  United  Provinces,  when  the  Government 
caUed  together  an  Education  Committee  to 
consider  what  could  be  done  for  the  education 
of  girls,  only  Hindus  attended ;  in  another, 
all  the  endeavours  to  interest  Moslems  in  this 
subject  have  up  to  the  present  proved  unavail- 
ing, though  in  the  very  same  town  a  Hindu 
merchant   is  building   at  his  own  expense  a 


60         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

school  for  Hindu  girls  at  a  cost  of  50,000 
rupees. 

At  the  same  time,  from  workers  among 
Moslems  in  almost  every  part  of  India  come 
the  tidings  that  gro^vth  of  sound  public  opinion 
on  this  question,  though  sometimes  discourag- 
ingly  slow,  is  yet  real  and  steady,  and  in 
some  centres  marked  progress  has  been  made 
within  recent  years.  Up-to-date  schools  for 
Moslem  girls  are  being  established  by  private 
Moslem  enterprise  in  important  centres  such 
as  Allahabad,  Agra,  Delhi,  Lahore,  Bombay, 
Hyderabad  and  Bhopal  (the  ruler  of  wliich 
state  is  a  highly  educated  Moslem  Begum) ; 
in  other  centres  Moslems  send  their  daughters 
to  Government  schools  and  to  mission  schools, 
in  some  few  cases  even  allomng  them  to  board 
in  Christian  boarding-houses  in  order  that  they 
may  get  the  best  e'>j cation  possible. 

One  of  the  most  influential  members  of 
the  Moslem  community  in  North  India,  a  man 
who  has  devoted  the  greater  part  of  his  private 
means  and  practically  his  whole  time  to  promot- 
ing the  cause  of  family  education,  ^vrites  thus  : — 
"  The  Mohammedans  of  India  should  aim  at 
transforming  themselves  into  a  more  organised 


SIGNS  OF  PROGRESS  IN  INDIA      61 

community  and  should  concentrate  their  indivi- 
dual and  collective  efforts  upon  useful  enterprises. 
In  the  term  Mohammedans  I  include  women. 
Anv  scheme  or  organisation  of  Mohammedans 
in  which  women  are  ignored  is  against  nature 
and  is  therefore  doomed  to  failure.  Biologi- 
cally they  play  an  important  role  in  the  main- 
tenance and  preservation  of  the  race  ;  sodo- 
loricallv  thev  are  the  foundation  of  family  life 
and  furnish  one  of  the  strongest  motives  for  the 
development  of  the  altruistic  virtues  which  play 
a  prominent  part  in  the  progress  of  nations." 

One  of  the  most  urcrent  needs  lq  out  mission- 
ary  work  at  the  present  time  is  to  increase  the 
number,  and  above  all,  the  efficiency  of  our 
schools  for  Moslem  girls.  From  some  centres 
the  distressing  news  has  come  that  mission 
schools  have  had  to  be  closed,  as  they  were 
unable  to  compete  with  the  Government  and 
non-Christian  schools  that  had  been  started. 
We  should  aim  at  setting  on  foot  a  first  class 
mission  school  in  every  important  Moslem 
centre  in  India ;  there  is  Httle  doubt  that  pupils 
in  larcre  numbers  would  be  forthcoming:.  But 
if  we  let  the  present  opportunity  sKp,  others 
will  step  in  and  undertake  the  work ;    as  we 


62         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

have  seen,  they  are  already  beginning  to  do  so, 
and  the  rising  generation  of  Moslem  women  may 
be  lost  to  the  Church  of  Christ.  I  earnestly 
trust  that  this  Conference  will  not  fail  to  send 
to  the  Church  in  the  West  an  urgent  appeal 
for  a  large  supply  of  fully  qualified  women 
educators  to  come  for  the  love  of  Christ  and 
serve  India  in  this  day  of  opportunity. 

In  view  of  the  urgency  of  the  need,  however, 
it  is  not  enough  merely  to  appeal  to  the  home 
lands  for  recruits ;  it  surely  behoves  us  to 
reconsider  our  whole  poUcy.  To  many  it 
seems  that  work  among  Moslem  women  in 
India  calls  urgently  for  revision  along  the 
following  Hues  : — 

I.  Co-operation 

It  was  well  said  at  the  Edinburgh  Conference 
that  in  many  cases  closer  co-operation  would 
be  equivalent  to  a  doubling  of  the  missionary 
staff.     We  need  to  consider  the  possibihty  of 

.(1)  Closer    Co-operation    between    the    Various 
Missionary  Societies, 

This  applies  most  of  all  to  our  educational 
work.    As    yet   the   numbers    of   women   and 


SIGNS  OF  PROGRESS  IN  INDIA     63 

girls  receiving  education  are  small  and  scattered, 
and  far  too  large  a  proportion  of  western 
missionaries  are  giving  their  time  to  teaching 
them.  If  the  numbers  of  small  training  and 
other  classes  could  be  welded  together  in 
larger  Union  Training  Schools,  the  work  would 
be  more  efficiently  done,  and  a  considerable 
number  of  educationists  would  be  set  free  for 
pioneer  work  in  connection  with  schools  for 
Moslem  girls  so  urgently  needed  at  the  present 
time.  No  scheme  of  co-operation  is  possible 
without  a  certain  amount  of  individual  sacri- 
fice ;  we  need  a  largeness  of  vision  to  see 
things  in  their  true  proportions,  and  a  burning 
enthusiasm  for  the  Kingdom  of  God,  which 
will  not  allow  local  and  temporary  inconvenience 
to  block  the  way  when  the  call  comes  to  advance. 

(2)  Closer  Co-operation  Between  the  Various 
Branches  of  Missionary  Effort, 

In  the  book  of  Proverbs  the  inspired  writer 
gives,  with  one  stroke  of  his  pen,  a  Hfe-like 
picture  of  the  slothful  man :  "He  roasteth 
not  that  which  he  took  in  hunting,"  a  picture, 
it  always  seems  to  me,  of  opportunity  obtained 


64         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

with  an  infinite  expenditure  of  time  and 
sacrifice,  and  then  neglected,  of  magnificent 
beginnings  frittering  away  into  nothing.  I 
think  that  in  many  cases  we  Zenana  workers 
do  not  rally  round  the  hospitals  as  we  might. 
I  am  sure  that  we  ought  to  draw  closer  together 
than  we  do,  and  to  reaUse  that  our  work  is 
absolutely  one,  and  have  a  regular  system  by 
which  all  women  who  come  to  the  hospitals 
are  followed  up  in  their  homes.  Often  it  is  not 
the  fault  of  individual  missionaries  that  hospital 
work  is  not  more  effectively  followed  up,  but 
of  the  poHcy  of  the  mission  as  a  whole.  In 
one  centre  a  hospital  is  planted,  but  little  or 
no  provision  is  made  for  school  or  Zenana 
work.  In  another  centre  evangelistic  workers 
spend  their  time  knocking  at  closed  doors, 
no  medical  missionaries  being  at  hand  to 
prepare  the  way  for  them.  When  conditions 
such  as  these  obtain,  I  feel  that  the  matter 
should  be  laid  before  the  Board  or  Home 
Committee,  and  that  we  should  not  rest  satisfied 
until  in  each  place  where  there  is  medical 
work  there  is  also  a  sufficient  staff  of  Zenana 
and  school  workers  to  roast  thoroughly  and 
effectively  all  that  is  taken  in  hunting.     The 


A  Veiled  Algerian   Beaity 


SIGNS  OF  PROGRESS  IN  INDIA      65 

following  is  the  deliberate  verdict  of  one  who 
has  had  exceptional  opportunities  for  studying 
the  problems  of  evangelisation,  not  only  in 
India  but  also  in  China  and  Japan  and  many 
other  parts  of  the  mission  field.  She  writes  : — 
"  By  far  the  greater  number  of  opportunities 
created  by  the  work  of  the  medical  missionary 
are  inevitably  lost  if  she  is  left  with  no  one 
to  follow  them  up  ;  she  opens  doors  but  is 
far  too  busy  to  go  through  them.  To  every 
medical  missionary  twenty  fellow-workers  are 
needed  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunities 
her  work  creates.  Hers  it  is  to  attract  attention 
and  then  pass  on ;  theirs  to  follow  up,  to 
visit,  teach,  instruct,  prepare  for  baptism, 
found  schools,  train  the  converts,  till  they  in 
their  turn  are  ready  to  join  the  great  volunteer 
army  of  Christ's  evangehsts." 

(3)  Closer  Co-operation  Between  MerCs  and 
Women's  Work. 

(a)  In  Individual  Work. — Far  too  large  a 
proportion  of  men  missionaries,  as  it  seems 
to  me,  are  at  present  taken  up  with  pastoral 
or  institutional   work ;     we   need   many   more 


66         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

who  can  give  their  best  energies  to  seeking 
souls  in  the  individual  and  definite  way  which 
has  long  been  the  main  method  of  attack 
with  Zenana  workers ;  and  the  men's  and 
women's  work  should  be  closely  co-ordinated, 
so  that  whenever  a  women  is  under  instruction 
her  husband  may  be  fished  for  by  one  of  the 
men  missionaries,  and  vice  versa,  that  whole 
famihes  may  be  won  for  Christ  and  wherever 
possible  the  terrible  divisions  and  breaking 
up  of  homes  may  be  averted.  At  present 
in  India  we  see  not  infrequently  whole  districts 
in  which  there  are  only  women  missionaries, 
and  again  other  districts  in  which  only  men 
are  working,  and  the  result  is  a  terrible  hinder- 
ing of  the  progress  of  the  Gospel.  With  care 
and  common  sense  this  kind  of  co-operation 
may  be  perfectly  well  carried  out  without 
giving  rise  to  difficulty  or  misunderstanding. 

{b)  In  Educational  Work. — "  Schools  for 
Indian  girls  should  be  opened  whenever  possible 
as  '  twins  '  to  existing  boys'  high  schools.  This 
would  give  a  nucleus  to  start  with  among  the 
sisters  of  the  boys,  an  area  for  recruiting, 
a  permanent  connection,  a  splendid  point 
d'ajpfui,  and  an  unparalleled   opportunity  for 


SIGNS  OF  PROGRESS  IN  INDIA      67 

co-ordination  and  concentration.  There  is  at 
the  present  day  a  considerable  body  of  opinion 
in  favour  of  women  acting  in  some  cases  on  the 
staff  of  boys'  schools,  and  such  an  arrangement 
would  be  a  great  help  here.  If  the  Principal 
of  the  girls'  school  held  a  more  or  less  nominal 
appointment  in  the  boys'  school,  teaching  them 
one  or  two  periods  a  week,  it  would  give  her  an 
opportunity  to  canvass  among  the  boys  for 
their  wives  and  sisters,  would  help  to  make 
her  known  to  their  parents,  and  would  tend 
generally  to  keep  the  two  sides  of  the  work  in 
touch  with  one  another.  The  divorce  of  men's 
and  women's  work  leads  to  much,  very  much, 
leakage  of  force,  and  often  to  heart-rending 
separations  in  the  famihes  of  converts.  Let  us 
be  warned  in  time  in  any  new  undertaking." 
("  Young  India  and  the  Education  of  Girls,'' 
by  E,  R.  McNeile}) 

{c)  In  Literary  Work. — At  least  one  woman 
should  be  placed  on  the  Literary  Committee 
of  each  province.  There  is  great  need  for 
specialised  Uterature  for  Moslem  women  and 
girls,  and  doubtless  a  good  deal  of  latent  talent 

1  Pamphlet  may  be  obtained  free  for  distribution  from  the 
Church  Missionary  House,  Salisbury  Square,  London,  E.C, 


68         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

exists  among  women  missionaries,  some  of 
whom  are  more  modest  than  the  brethren  with 
regard  to  the  merit  of  their  hterary  efforts,  and 
hesitate  in  consequence  to  press  forward  into 
print.  Women  are  urgently  needed  on  the 
Literary  Conmiittees  to  bring  to  Hght  any  such 
hidden  genius,  and  to  keep  constantly  to  the 
front  the  need  for  suitable  literature  for  women 
and  girls. 

II.  Efficiency 

In  every  department  whether  of  Social, 
Educational  or  Literary  work,  we  need  trained 
experts.  As  a  conference  I  trust  we  shall 
bring  all  our  influence  to  bear  on  the  Home 
Boards  to  ensiu-e  that  volunteers  for  service 
among  Moslem  women  receive  the  very  best 
equipment  possible  for  the  work,  that  adequate 
time  and  other  facihties  be  given  them  for  the 
study  of  the  vernacular  (and  wherever  possible 
of  Arabic  also),  of  sociological  questions  in 
their  bearing  on  Islam,  of  the  Moslem  contro- 
versy, of  pedagogy  and  psychology. 

Similarly  we  must  aim  at  a  higher  standard 
of  efficiency  among  our  Indian  fellow- workers. 
The  great  difficulty  of  obtaining  teachers  has 


SIGNS  OF  PROGRESS  IN  INDIA      69 

constantly  tended  to  lower  our  standard  with 
regard  to  those  we  are  willing  to  employ,  and 
one  cannot  but  feel  that  the  result  of  this  in  the 
past  has  been  disastrous  in  the  extreme.  When 
Indian  Christians  see  that  all  missionaries  unite 
in  emphasising  the  importance  of  special  train- 
ing for  missionary  work  they  will  themselves 
begin  to  reahse  in  a  new  way  its  value,  and  the 
sacredness  of  the  missionary  vocation.  May  we 
not  look  forward  to  a  not  distant  day  when  no 
worker  will  be  taken  into  mission  employ  who 
does  not  go  through  some  adequate  course  of 
training  ?  I  know  well  the  difficulty  of  finding 
workers  and  the  present  needs  of  the  work,  but 
surely  in  the  long  run  quahty  rather  than 
quantity  is  the  thing  that  tells. 

"  Oh,  if  we  draw  a  circle  premature, 
Heedless  of  far  gain, 
Greedy  for  quick  returns  of  profit,  sure, 
Bad  is  our  bargain." 

I  beheve  that  an  immense  advance  step  would 
have  been  made,  whose  far  reaching  effects  of 
blessing  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  we  cannot  at 
all  foresee,  if  we  would  unitedly  resolve  that  no 
matter  at  what  personal  inconvenience  or 
apparent    temporary    retarding    of    the    work, 


70         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

we  would  never  allow  the  spiritual  and  mental 
preparation  and  fitness  of  our  workers  to  take 
a  second  place  in  our  thoughts  and  plans. 

III.  Prayer 

Probably  every  worker  among  Moslem  women 
will  agree  with  me  that  in  the  poverty  of  our 
prayer-Hfe  has  lain  the  main  cause  of  the  weak- 
ness of  our  work.  The  Lucknow  Conference 
will  have  been  abundantly  worth  while  if  it 
achieve  but  one  result,  namely,  that  of  rousing 
us  to  pray  with  a  deeper  faith  and  with 
triumphant  perseverance  for  the  coming  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  Moslem  homes  of 
India. 


AMONG  THE  EDUCATED  WOMEN 
OF  TURKEY 

BY 

MISS  M.  M.   PATRICK,  Ph.D. 


AMONG  THE  EDUCATED  WOMEN 
OF  TURKEY 

The  new  regime  in  Turkey  offers  to  Moham- 
medan women  freedom  to  take  advantage  of 
the  opportunities  for  development  that  have 
long  been  enjoyed  by  the  rest  of  the  world. 

Under  what  conditions  do  they  start  out  on 
this  new  era  of  freedom  ?  Popular  opinion  in 
the  past  has  generally  considered  only  the  dis- 
advantages of  their  position,  and  both  the 
advantages  and  the  disadvantages  have  always 
been  veiled  behind  the  mysteries  of  the  un- 
known in  Oriental  customs,  for  the  reason  that 
for  ages  past  women  in  the  harems  have  been 
an  unknown  quantity  to  the  outside  world. 
Their  hves  have  been  concealed,  even  as  in  the 
streets  they  themselves  have  been  hidden  behind 
thick  veils  and  flowing  draperies,  and  in  their 
homes  by  heavy  curtains  and  latticed  windows. 
Thus  seclusion  and  the  Oriental  setting  have 
seemed  the  principal  elements  of  their  being, 

78 


74         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

and  have  appeared  to  form  such  great  dis- 
advantages that  various  advantages  have  been 
lost  sight  of  that  are  nevertheless  connected 
with  their  legal  and  social  relations. 

The  most  striking  advantage  which  they 
enjoy  relates  to  property  rights.  Mohammedan 
girls  become  of  age  at  fifteen,  and  from  that 
time  they  absolutely  control  any  property  that 
may  belong  to  them,  and  a  woman  may  buy  or 
sell,  invest,  lease  or  give  away  her  property 
without  consulting  any  other  person. 

This  fact  is  so  strange  in  contrast  to  many 
other  Oriental  customs,  that  one  is  interested 
to  briefly  trace  the  historical  evolution  of  the 
financial  freedom  enjoyed  by  Mohammedan 
women. 

The  movement  in  the  direction  of  greater 
rights  of  property  for  women,  without  doubt 
began  with  Mohammed,  for  when  we  consider 
the  degraded  condition  of  society  in  Mohammed's 
time,  we  see  that  his  teachings  enforced  an 
increased  respect  for  women,  purified  polygamy, 
although  they  did  not  destroy  it,  and  demanded 
a  degree  of  equity  in  marriage  that  was  in 
advance  of  the  teaching  of  that  day  among  the 
Arabs,  and  even  as  early  as  the  third  century 


EDUCATED  WOMEN  OF  TURKEY     75 

of  the  Hejira,  the  teaching  of  the  highest 
leaders  among  the  Mohammedans  was,  that 
developed  Koranic  laws  taught  monogamy  and 
not  polygamy,  a  fact  which  is  also  claimed  by 
many  at  the  present  time. 

Turkish  laws,  as  they  exist  at  present  how- 
ever, bear  a  decided  stamp  of  Roman  influence. 
Early  Roman  law  placed  the  control  of  the 
wife's  property  entirely  in  the  hands  of  her 
husband,  but  after  the  Maenian  law  in  586  a.d., 
this  was  gradually  changed,  and  Theodosius 
and  Valentinian  the  Constantinople  Emperors, 
enacted  laws  regarding  dowries  almost  identical 
with  the  present  Turkish  laws.  In  the  time  of 
Justinian,  there  was  absolute  legal  equaUty  of 
the  sexes  in  property  matters,  except  that 
women  had  if  anything  rather  more  protection 
than  men. 

There  are  two  ways  in  which  a  Mohammedan 
woman  may  acquire  property  besides  earning 
it ;  by  inheritance  or  as  a  dowry  from  her 
husband,  and  of  all  this  she  has  full  control. 

When  a  Mohammedan  woman  marries,  her 
husband  is  obhged  to  give  her  a  dowry  which  is 
divided  into  two  parts  :  the  prompt  and  the 
deferred.     The  prompt  must  be  paid  before  the 


76         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

marriage  can  be  consummated.  This  money 
is  not  paid  to  the  parents  or  any  older  friends 
of  the  bride,  but  is  paid  to  herself,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  law  that  from  the  age  of  fifteen 
a  girl  controls  money  that  she  has  inherited, 
and  after  marriage  controls  her  dowry.  The 
deferred  part  of  the  dowry  is  never  paid,  unless 
the  husband  divorces  the  wife.  In  many 
Mohammedan  countries  where  there  is  a  grow- 
ing sentiment  against  divorce,  the  husband  is 
often  asked  to  promise  to  confer  a  large  dowry 
upon  his  wife,  especially  the  part  that  is  to  be 
paid  should  he  divorce  her,  with  the  hope  that 
the  financial  pressure  will  be  so  great  that  the 
number  of  divorces  will  be  lessened.  It  is 
evident  that  the  advantage  of  property-rights 
amehorates  the  situation  only  for  those  women 
who  have  money,  for  the  personal  control  of 
Ihe  wife  is  absolute.  A  divorced  woman  who 
has  money  is  independent,  but  a  poor  woman 
whose  dowry  is  small,  may  be  sent  out  from 
her  home  in  great  misery  and  loneUness. 

On  her  marriage,  a  Mohammedan  woman  does 
not  lose  her  individuahty.  She  does  not  merge 
her  rights  in  those  of  her  husband,  but  she  may 
exercise  many  rights  that  may  belong  to  any 


EDUCATED  WOMEN  OF  TURKEY     77 

citizen.  She  may  act  as  administratrix  or 
executrix,  or  be  appointed  legally  as  governor 
of  a  charitable  endowment,  and  she  can  make 
legal  contracts  with  any  one,  even  with  her 
husband.  She  may  sue  or  be  sued  without 
his  knowledge,  and  she  may  even  sue  her 
husband,  according  to  the  law,  although  I  do 
not  know  whether  this  often  happens.  If  the 
wife  earns  money,  the  husband  cannot  control 
it  or  Hve  upon  it  in  idleness,  without  her  con- 
sent. Marriage  among  the  Mohammedans  is 
merely  a  civil  contract,  and  is  different  from  the 
marriage  contract  in  any  other  country  in  the 
world.  In  many  respects  it  regards  the  rights 
on  either  side,  as  neither  has  any  control  of  the 
property  and  legal  relations  of  the  other,  and 
while  the  wife  is  in  no  respect  under  the  legal 
guardianship  of  her  husband,  he  is  also  not  liable 
for  her  debts,  although  he  is  bound  to  support 
her  while  the  marriage  relation  continues. 

Mohammedan  women  usually  employ  a  legal 
adviser  to  attend  to  their  affairs.  There  are  as 
yet  no  lawyers  among  them,  but  for  very  many 
years  it  has  been  the  custom  for  them  to  some- 
times plead  their  own  cases  in  the  courts  of 
law,  having  first  studied  up  the  legal  points 


78         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

connected  with  them — and  a  Constantinople 
lawyer  has  declared  that  they  often  do  this  with 
great  eloquence. 

Another  advantage  with  which  Mohammedan 
women  may  now  enter  upon  a  new  era  of  de- 
velopment, is  that  the  idea  of  professional  life 
is  not  a  new  one  to  them — they  will  not  have  to 
be    educated   to    the  idea  as  well  as  to   the 
professions,    for    the    unique    constitution    of 
Mohammedan  society,  arising  partly  from  the 
marriage  and  property  laws,  and  partly  from  the 
habit  of  seclusion,  developed  the  possibility  of 
elementary    forms    of    professions    among   the 
women  quite  early  in  their  history.     The  pro- 
fessions in  which  they  have  had  some  experience 
are  those  of  trade,  of  literature,  of  medicine  and 
of   teaching.     We    may    perhaps    include   also 
speaking  in  different  forms,  for  Mohammedan 
women  in  the  past  have  not  been  wholly  without 
the  opportunities  for  pubUc  speaking,  and  some 
certainly  have  shown,  since  the  new  era  began, 
a  decided  talent  for  lecturing. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  many  Turkish 
women  are  engaged  in  trade,  some  even  carry- 
ing on  an  extensive  business,  involving  frequent 
journeys   to   Egypt   and   other   places.     From 


EDUCATED  WOMEN  OF  TURKEY     79 

time  immemorial  the  treasurer  at  the  head  of 
the  royal  harem  has  been  a  woman,  in  early 
days  the  Vahdeh  Sultana,  but  later  another 
woman  was  appointed  for  the  position,  who  had 
under  her  control  a  regular  bureau  of  trained 
scribes,  all  women.  I  do  not  mean  that  these 
women  had  been  taught  stenography  and  type- 
writing, but  they  were  trained  according  to  the 
methods  of  their  time,  which  were  doubtless 
rather  primitive. 

In  early  ages  when  there  was  greater  freedom 
among  Mohammedan  women,  there  were  women 
preachers  who  were  accustomed  to  address  con- 
gregations of  women  in  the  mosques  and  bazaars, 
and  the  father  of  one  of  the  students  at  the 
American  College  for  girls  at  Constantinople 
at  one  time  asked  us  especially  to  teach  his 
daughter  to  speak  well  in  public,  as  he  wished 
her  after  graduating  to  go  into  the  interior  to 
preach  to  Mohammedan  women. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  composition, 
including  the  teaching  of  different  kinds  of 
style,  was  one  of  the  subjects  taught  in  the 
normal  school  for  girls,  the  Dar-ul-Mouahmat, 
even  under  the  old  regime,  for  it  is  in  literary 
work  that  the  advanced  Turkish  women  have 


80         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

most  distinguished  themselves.  The  relation 
of  Mohammedan  women  to  letters  appears 
at  intervals  throughout  all  Mohammedan 
history.  Women  professors  were  employed  in 
at  least  one  university  in  Spain  during  the 
period  of  the  rule  of  the  Moors.  In  the  early 
centuries  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  the  art 
of  letters  was  not  entirely  neglected  by 
Mussulman  women,  for  there  was  usually  a 
literary  circle  in  which  women  were  often  found. 
The  present  modern  movement  in  regard 
to  Hterary  progress  among  Turkish  women 
began  about  twenty-five  years  ago.  One  of 
the  first  writers  was  Makboule  Lemaan  Hanum, 
and  since  then  the  two  most  celebrated  are 
Fatima  Alieh  Hanum  and  Nighiar  Hanum. 
The  former  comes  of  a  family  of  writers,  being 
the  daughter  of  Jevdet  Pasha,  the  President 
of  the  Turkish  Academy,  an  organisation  which 
existed  for  a  short  time  before  the  tyranny 
of  the  reign  of  Hamid  rendered  impossible 
all  literary  progress  in  the  Turkish  nation. 
Fatima  AUeh  Hanum  has  interested  herself 
in  more  serious  subjects  than  is  the  case  of 
most  Mohammedan  women.  The  literary 
movement    among    women    began    with    the 


Types  of  Moslem   Wom 


KN__J5()KiiAHA,  Sahara.  Tims.  Tashkend 


EDUCATED  WOMEN  OF  TURKEY  81 

attempt  to  write  poetry  and  novels — some 
in  French  and  some  in  Tm^kish.  Fatima  Alieh 
Hanmn,  however,  has  made  quite  a  serious 
study  of  Philosophy  and  of  the  History  of 
Literature  among  Mohammedan  women,  and 
although  she  has  written  some  novels,  they  have 
been  novels  teaching  practical  social  and  moral 
truths.  She  lectured  recently  in  Stamboul 
on  the  subject,  "  Knowledge  and  its  different 
Degrees."  Her  research  in  Philosophy  has  been 
in  the  Hne  of  Scholastic  Philosophy,  rather 
than  in  that  of  modern  thought.  She  has  also 
studied  theology,  and  has  made  special  in- 
vestigations regarding  Mohammedan  religious 
teachings,  especially  in  the  Hne  of  women's 
rights,  to  show  what  rights  the  Mohanunedan 
rehgion  legally  allows  women.  Ahmed  Midhat 
Effendi,  one  of  the  leading  Turkish  novehsts 
and  popular  writers,  now  nearly  eighty  years 
old,  lately  wrote  an  article  published  in  one 
of  the  daily  papers,  in  which  he  criticised  the 
manners  of  women  in  public,  finding  them  too 
free,  and  Fatima  Aheh  Hanum  wrote  a  fine 
article  in  reply  which  was  greatly  admired, 
in  which  she  said  that  women  had  not  taken 


82         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

advantage  of  as  much  freedom  as  their  rehgion 
allowed  them. 

Nighiar  Hanum  is  a  poet.  She  has  pubHshed 
several  volumes  of  lyric  poetry  which  are 
considered  good. 

There  are  many  of  the  younger  women  also 
who  are  now  beginning  to  write. 

The  Turkish  papers  pay  for  articles  which 
are  written  at  their  request,  and  there  are 
some  writers  among  the  women  who  are  well 
paid  for  their  Hterary  work.  Many  years  ago 
under  the  old  regime  a  paper  for  women  was 
started  which  in  the  beginning  was  edited  by 
women,  and  afterwards  passed  into  the  hands 
of  men  editors.  At  the  present  time  there  is 
no  paper  edited  entirely  by  Turkish  women, 
but  a  certain  Fatima  Shadieh  Hanum  intends 
to  pubHsh  such  a  paper. 

The  strongest  writer  among  contemporary 
Mohammedan  women  is  Madame  Hahdeh 
SaHh,  a  graduate  of  the  American  College 
for  Girls,  and  the  only  Mohammedan  woman 
in  Turkey  who  has  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts.  Although  at  the  same  time  practically 
the  Director  of  the  Dar-ul-Mouahmat,  the 
Normal  School  for  Girls,  she  writes  constantly 


EDUCATED  WOMEN  OF  TURKEY     83 

for  the  papers  on  all  subjects  of  interest,  and 
her  articles  are  in  great  demand.  She  also 
writes  in  EngHsh  both  for  the  EngHsh  and 
American  press.  An  essay  of  hers  was  published 
in  the  London  Nation  of  March,  1910,  and  the 
editor  spoke  of  her  as  an  educator,  philanthropist, 
poHtician,  speaker,  and  writer  of  Turkish 
prose.  She  is  pubHshing  two  books  at  present 
which  will  soon  be  given  to  the  pubHc — a  novel 
entitled  "  Sevieh  LaHb,"  and  a  volume  of 
lectures  on  pedagogical  subjects. 

There  is  a  new  Club  for  women  which  has 
lately  been  organized  in  Stamboul  for  Hterary 
purposes,  called  the  Taarli-Nisvan,  or  the  Society 
for  the  elevation  of  those  who  are  veiled.  The 
members  of  this  club  employ  a  teacher  for 
the  purpose  of  teaching  them  EngHsh,  and 
plan  to  translate  books  from  EngHsh  to  Turkish. 

During  the  old  days  of  greater  sequestration 
in  the  harems,  music  was  the  favourite  occupa- 
tion for  many  women,  and  there  are  some 
who  play  extremely  well  on  both  piano  and 
vioHn.  There  are  also  those  who  paint. 
Mufideh  Kadri  Hanum  has  exhibited  three 
pictures  in  Munich  :  a  portrait  of  her  father ; 
one  of  a  Uttle  negress  in  oils  ;    and  a  picture 


84         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

of  her  music  room,  in  pastels.  For  the  last 
she  had  a  letter  of  approbation  from  Munich. 
She  at  present  occupies  the  position  of  drawing 
teacher  in  the  Dar-ul-MouaHmat. 

The  strict  laws  regarding  harem  life  have 
obHged  Mohammedan  women  to  learn  something 
of  medicine,  for  there  has  always  been  a  strong 
prejudice  against  men  doctors  entering  the 
harems,  and  although  it  is  disappearing  under 
the  new  freedom,  it  still  exists  to  some  extent. 
As  a  result,  there  developed  a  more  or  less 
mediaeval  system  of  women  doctors,  who 
are  called  half- doctors.  Fifty  years  ago  this 
class  was  made  up  of  ignorant  women  who 
practised  charms,  dealt  in  strange  drugs, 
and  produced  much  suffering  in  the  harems, 
yet  there  has  thus  always  been  a  large  class 
of  professional  women  who  have  practised 
medicine  in  an  elementary  way.  The  present 
advantage  to  the  women  of  the  nation  of  this 
profession  does  not  he  so  much,  however, 
in  the  fact  of  the  work  done,  as  in  the  idea 
that  has  always  existed  among  them  that 
women  may  do  medical  work,  although  it  is  true 
that  the  medical  education  for  women  has 
shared    mth    other    forms    of    education    the 


EDUCATED  WOMEN  OF  TURKEY     85 

disadvantages  that  have  retarded  progress. 
The  custom  of  women  doctors,  however, 
exists,  and  a  good  medical  college  for  women 
would  meet  a  great  need.  About  thirty  years 
ago,  some  of  the  medical  schools  for  men  began 
to  offer  simple  lectures  to  women,  and  these  were 
at  one  time  incorporated  in  the  regular  program 
of  the  Haidar  Pasha  Medical  School,  given 
usually  once  a  week.  These  classes  were  very 
elementary,  and  were  attended  by  large  numbers 
of  women.  Medical  opinion  at  present  condemns 
them,  as  having  been  very  inadequate  and 
superficial,  but  they  cannot  have  been  wholly 
fruitless,  for  I  know  one  of  the  women  doctors 
who  studied  in  that  way.  She  is  simple, 
dignified,  and  efficient,  and  is  employed  as  the 
family  physician  by  at  least  one  prominent 
family,  who  always  trust  her  treatment  except 
in  case  of  dangerous  illness.  The  matter  of 
educating  these  so-called  half-doctors  has  now 
been  taken  officially  in  hand  by  the  department 
of  medical  instruction,  and  there  are  regular 
classes  for  women  organised  by  Dr  Bessem 
Emur  Pasha,  who  is  official  inspector  of  hospitals 
in  Turkey. 

This    class    contains    fifty   at   present,    who 


86         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

are  from  the  ages  of  twenty  to  forty,  and 
are  not  educated  women,  being  able  for  the 
most  part  when  they  enter  only  to  read  and 
write.  The  subjects  taught  are  Anatomy  and 
Physiology,  with  practical  demoxistrations  in 
the  hospital.  The  classes  are  few,  but  Dr 
Bess  em  Pasha  intends  to  raise  the  standard 
of  entrance,  and  the  grade  of  the  studies  as 
rapidly  as  possible.  This  is  the  first  serious 
attempt  at  medical  education  of  women  which 
has  thus  far  been  undertaken  by  the  people 
of  Turkey,  and  it  is  significant  that  it  should 
be  one  of  the  first  of  the  reforms  attempted 
under  the  new  regime. 

No  woman  is  allowed  to  practise  without 
a  diploma,  but  the  diplomas  have  not  thus 
far  been  of  great  medical  value.  The  diplomas 
that  are  given  are  of  three  degrees — satisfactory, 
good,  and  excellent,  and  they  are  conferred  by 
the  Director  of  the  School  of  Medicine,  and 
they  are  prepared  by  the  Minister  of  Public 
Instruction.  Women  of  all  races  are  ehgible 
for  these  courses,  and  marriage  does  not  dis- 
qualify either  in  this  profession  or  in  any 
other  among  Mohammedan  women.  A  lady 
on  one   occasion  visiting  the  School  of  Fine 


EDUCATED  WOMEN  OF  TURKEY     87 

Arts  for  Girls,  founded  by  Sultan  Aziz  in 
Stamboul,  found  the  classes  excused  for  the 
day  as  the  students  were  to  be  vaccinated, 
and  she  noticed  with  considerable  curiosity 
that  the  doctor,  who  came  to  vaccinate  the 
girls,  was  a  Mohammedan  woman,  and  this 
took  place  several  years  ago  under  the  old 
regime.  In  connection  with  the  above  there 
are  also  two  other  facts  which  show  an  increasing 
interest  at  the  present  time  in  medical  progress 
among  women.  The  Red  Cross  Society  is 
making  an  attempt  to  begin  training  for  nurses 
in  Constantinople  under  the  name  of  the 
Red  Crescent  Society.  This  movement  is 
headed  by  Madame  Rifaat  Pasha,  the  wife 
of  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs — and  is  a 
movement  which  is  just  beginning  and  has 
not  yet  been  definitely  formulated.  Madame 
Halideh  SaHh  is  one  of  the  committee  of 
Directors.  Women  have  also  shown  much 
interest  in  the  movement  on  behalf  of  city 
hygiene  started  by  Dr  Emily  Ray  Gregory, 
Professor  of  Biology  in  the  American  College 
for  Girls,  and  have  attended  the  lectures  in 
large  numbers. 

The  beginning  of  all  education  among  the 


88         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

Turks  was  in  the  primary  schools  connected 
with  the  mosques,  which  both  boys  and  girls 
attended.  The  first  school  distinctly  for  girls 
was  estabhshed  about  the  middle  of  the  last 
century,  and  since  that  time  there  has  developed 
a  regular  system  of  schools  for  girls  of  three 
grades.  Under  the  influence  of  Sultan  Hamid, 
no  progress  was  allowed  in  these  schools 
sufficient  really  to  teach  girls  to  think.  Under 
the  new  regime,  however,  the  progress  will 
be  rapid,  and  plans  are  already  being  formed 
of  complete  re-organisation  of  girls'  schools. 
The  only  school  of  the  highest  of  the  three 
grades  is  the  normal  school  in  Stamboul,  the 
Dar-ul-MouaHmat,  which  has  long  been  the  best 
school  for  girls  among  the  Turks,  and  imder 
the  new  regime  its  improvement  is  very  marked. 
Madame  Hahdeh  Salih  lectures  regularly  to 
the  students,  and  is  constantly  introducing 
reforms.  On  being  asked  recently  if  new 
coiuses  of  study  had  been  added  to  the  pro- 
gram, Madame  SaHh  rephed,  "It  is  not  so 
much  that  new  studies  have  been  added,  as 
that  the  spirit  is  being  changed."  New  sub- 
jects, however,  are  gradually  being  added,  and 
the  program  now  includes  Psychology  of  Peda- 


EDUCATED  WOMEN  OF  TURKEY  89 

gogy,  Physiology,  Elementary  Science,  Hygiene, 
History  of  Turkish  Literature,  Elementary 
Mathematics,  Geography  and  History.  An 
effort  will  be  made  next  year  to  introduce 
some  foreign  languages,  probably  EngHsh  and 
French. 

All  prominent  Turkish  patriots  at  the  present 
time  express  themselves  wdth  great  enthusiasm 
regarding  the  necessity  for  the  higher  educa- 
tion of  Turkish  women.  There  are  now  between 
fifty  and  sixty  Mohammedan  girls  in  the 
American  College  for  Girls  at  Constantinople, 
and  this  institution  plans  to  enlarge  in  order 
to  meet  as  far  as  possible  the  present  needs  of 
Mohammedan  women. 

The  opportunity  is  ripe  for  a  large  social 
and  educational  development  among  Moslem 
women  in  Turkey,  and  the  Christian  world 
should  rise  to  meet  this  need  by  furnishing 
the  required  advantages.^ 

^  In  the  above  paper  the  statement  is  made  :  '^  Moslem 
marriage  is  purely  a  civil  contract,  differing  from  every  other 
in  the  world,,  in  giving  the  wife  control  of  her  own  property 
and  compelling  the  husband  to  support  her  as  long  as  the 
marriage  relation  continues." 

I  wish  to  point  out  that  among  eight  millions  of  Buddhists 
in  Burma,  marriage  is  purely  a  civil  contract  guaranteeing  to 
the  wife  full  control  of  her  own  property  and  requiring  her 
husband  to  support  her  till  ehe  is  put  away. 


90         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

I  think  it  desirable  to  correct  the  statement  in  the  above 
paper  to  accord  with  facts. 

(Sig'ned)        Rev.  Jesse  F.  Smith^ 

Baptist  College,  Rangoon,  Burma. 

A  moment's  reflection  shows  why  the  Buddhist  and  Moslem 
women  are  privileged  with  regard  to  property  rights.  The 
reason  is  found  in  the  significant  words,  "  till  she  is  put  away." 

We  must  forget  our  ideas  of  Christian  marriage  and  regard 
a  temporary  union  terminable  always  at  will  by  the  husband, 
but  in  which  the  wife  secures  a  separation  with  great  difficulty 
— at  least  in  one  country — by  the  forfeiture  of  her  '^  deferred  " 
dowry.  Husbands  sometimes  so  maltreat  their  wives  that 
they  are  compelled  to  leave  them  and  are  freed,  as  one  ex- 
pressed it,  "  by  asking  to  be  excused  and  going  away  without 
their  money."  The  Quran  does  not  provide  for  this  right  of 
woman  to  hold  her  own  property,  neither  does  it  appear  in 
the  history  of  the  founding  of  Islam.  The  inference  is,  that 
fathers  and  brothers  have  devised  it  to  protect  the  women  of 
their  families  whom  they  give  in  marriage,  and  that  instead 
of  reflecting  credit  on  Islam,  it  reveals  the  low  ideas  which 
underlie  the  Moslem  conception  of  marriage.  It  would  be 
interesting  to  obtain  the  experiences  of  Moslem  men  and 
women  under  the  workings  of  this  law,  which  often  causes 
great  hardship  in  the  home.  Editor. 


SOCIAL  HINDRANCES 

BY 

MRS  M^CLURE 
Rawal  Pindi,  India 


SOCIAL  HINDRANCES 

It  has  been  said  that  "  Missions  are  powerful 
to  transform  the  face  of  Society  because  they 
ignore  the  face  of,  and  deal  with,  Society  at 
its  heart.  They  yield  powerful  poHtical  and 
social  results  because  they  do  not  concern 
themselves  with  them." 

We  beUeve  this  to  be  true,  and  our  main 
effort  will  be  to  go  deep  into  the  heart  of  exist- 
ing social  problems  and  conditions.  Ignoring 
the  face  of  Society  does  not  mean  that  we 
should  not  be  cognisant  of  it.  Even  as  Caleb 
and  Joshua  with  their  companions  saw  the 
difficulties  and  problems  before  them,  so  let 
us,  as  Soldiers  of  Christ  Jesus,  study  these 
problems  and  conditions.  Our  Captain  would 
not  have  us  ignorant  of  the  forces  against 
which  He  is  sending  us. 

There  are  five  distinct  aspects  which  we 
wish  to  consider  in  this  paper  : 

I.  Inability   to    discern    sin,    i.e,    a    dead 
conscience. 

98 


94         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

II.  The  body  of  sin. 

III.  The  lack  of  initiative  and  therefore 
absence  of  progress  in  (a)  home  ;  (b) 
education  ;   and  (c)  literature. 

IV.  Lack  of  real  fellowship. 
V.  Superstition. 

I.  InabiUty  to  discern  sin.  The  family  life 
is  the  heart  of  the  social  life  of  any  people. 
The  outer  life  is  the  expression  of  the  inner 
life,  entering  even  into  the  surroundings.  A 
pure,  gentle  heart  soon  transforms  the  rudest, 
most  disorderly  hut  into  a  place  of  comfort 
and  order. 

Our  intention  is  not  so  much  to  speak  of 
the  outer — the  social  evils  of  Mohammedan  Hfe 
— as  to  study  the  deeper — the  inner — problems. 
You  all  know  the  great  evils  of  Mohammedanism. 
We  need  not  speak  to  this  audience  of  the 
sufferings  of  child-wives,  or  of  the  unhappy 
life  of  the  childless  wife,  in  constant  dread 
of  the  coming  of  a  second  wife  into  the  home, 
until,  almost  maddened  with  longing,  she 
wanders  here  and  there  worshipping  the  graves 
of  so-called  Mohammedan  saints,  giving  offerings 
to  the  dead,  etc.  You,  too,  know  of  many  such 
incidents. 


SOCIAL  HINDRANCES  95 

We  want  to  go  deeper  than  this.  Our  battle 
is  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against 
spiritual  hosts  of  evil,  a  spiritual  conflict. 
One  sometimes  surmises  that  Satan  himself 
does  not  take  joy  in  these  grosser  evils.  But 
they  are  the  inevitable  results  of  a  false  reHgion, 
whose  followers  have  been  given  over  to  believe 
a  lie.  And  right  here  lies  our  first  problem. 
They  beUeve  a  He  to  be  the  truth.  They 
are  unable  to  discern  sin.  In  Mohammedanism 
there  is  no  distinction  between  moral  and 
ceremonial  law.  There  is  nothing  wrong  by 
Nature.  Things  become  wrong  by  the  fiat 
of  God,  made  known  by  the  prophet  of  God. 
Thus  the  conscience  does  not  act :  it  is  dead. 

Imagine — but,  alas  !  we  do  not  need  to 
imagine,  we  have  it  exempHfied  in  our  midst — 
a  family  Hfe,  of  which  no  member  discerns 
the  inherent  evil  of  sin.  Here  is  the  principle 
wliich  brings  forth  the  great  social  evils.  We 
have  known  girls  who  did  not  know  when 
they  were  lying.  This  is  as  a  chain  binding, 
imprisoning,  the  women  of  India,  and  doing 
them  infinitely  greater  harm  than  the  terrible 
physical  anguish  caused  by  the  lash  on  the 
Pathan  cliild-mfe's  body  of  a  big  black  snake- 


96         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

whip  in  the  hands  of  an  enraged  husband. 
"  Be  not  afraid  of  them  that  kill  the  body 
.  .  .  but  rather  fear  him  who  is  able  to  kill 
both  soul  and  body." 

II.  We  have  called  the  second  problem  the 
body  of  sin,  the  mind  used  by  sin.  Living 
in  the  midst  of  sin,  hearing  evil,  seeing  evil, 
a  deep  impression  is  made  on  mind  and  heart, 
not  once  only  but  again  and  again,  until  the 
track  is  cut  deep  and  evil  thoughts  and  evil 
words  pass  freely  along  the  well-worn  path, 
often  unnoticed  and  seldom  rebuked.  The 
very  centre  of  speech  is  thus  used  by  sin. 

Their  very  method  of  memorising,  committing 
to  memory,  not  by  means  of  sequence  of  thought, 
but  rather  in  a  mechanical  way  by  repetition, 
until  the  action  becomes  automatic,  has  highly 
developed  this  power  to  make  their  own  what 
they  hear  repeatedly.  Usually  they  do  not 
reason  and  do  not  draw  logical  conclusions 
from  their  knowledge. 

The  minds  of  most  Mohammedan  women 
and  girls  are  bound  by  such  habits  of  thought 
as  by  chains.  We  who  have  come  into  close 
contact  with  converts  know  how  they  cry 
out  for  deHverance  from  them.     In  our  schools 


SOCIAL  HINDRANCES  97 

the  children  memorise  the  Psalms  and  Hymns 
set  to  Indian  music,  and  when  they  hear  the 
strains  of  their  own  songs  there  comes  to 
their  minds  the  words  they  have  learned  to 
associate  mth  that  music. 

III.  Lack  of  initiative  and  consequent  ab- 
sence of  progress  in  (a)  home  ;  {b)  education  ; 
and  {c)  Hterature.  When  we  speak  of  want 
of  progress  in  the  home,  we  mean  those  homes 
which  have  not  been  influenced  by  contact 
with  Christianity.  In  the  ordinary  Moham- 
medan home  we  find  the  same  conditions 
prevaiHng  now  as  have  prevailed  for  many, 
many  years.  The  wife  and  mother  is  in  the 
home  all  day,  but  she  seems  to  give  Httle  or 
no  thought  to  making  the  home  brighter  or 
more  orderly  or  cleaner.  Usually  she  is  com- 
pletely satisfied  to  remain  as  she  is.  As  the 
women  mingle  with  each  other,  and  we  mean 
the  very  best  of  them,  the  contact  does  not 
make  them  better  wives  and  mothers,  nor 
does  it  lead  them  to  improve  their  homes. 

There  are  now,  however,  hundreds  of  homes 
into  which  the  Christ  message  has  been  brought, 
and  you  will  all  bear  witness  that  the  effect 
of    the    Living    Word,    whether    accepted    or 


98         DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

rejected,  is  to  bring  life,  and  even  this  slight 
contact  with  it  causes  the  women  to  begin 
to  strive  to  better  their  homes.  Meeting  them 
socially  in  pardah  clubs  and  in  our  homes — 
in  other  words,  opening  our  hearts  and  homes 
to  them — has  been  greatly  used  in  bringing 
them  into  contact  with  the  Christ  life.  This 
is  something  we  can  all  do,  and  especially 
missionary  wives  and  mothers. 

We  all  know  that  even  to-day  Uttle  is  done 
by  Moslems  towards  educating  their  women 
and  children.  We  find  Httle  thoughtful  plan- 
ning for  the  advancement  of  children,  no  real 
study  of  the  needs  of  childhood,  no  real  effort 
to  uplift  themselves  or  others. 

Some  of  the  Moslem  schools  for  girls  have 
Christian  teachers.  We  have  had  two  such 
schools  in  Rawal  Pindi,  and  one  of  them  is 
still  there.  In  another  school,  which  is  held 
in  a  mosque,  I  was  invited  to  teach  the  girls 
the  Bible,  especially  the  New  Testament  and 
the  Psalms  and  Hymns.  I  went  one  winter 
each  Wednesday,  when  possible,  and  gave  a 
Bible  lesson  and  taught  those  girls  to  sing  the 
Psalms  and  Hynms  set  to  Indian  music. 

Others  have  spoken  and  will  speak  of  litera- 


SOCIAL  HINDRANCES  99 

ture.  The  great  need  is  for  bright  healthy 
stories  to  place  in  the  hands  of  our  girls,  instead 
of  the  light  and  often  evil  literature  we  often 
find  them  reading. 

IV.  Lack  of  real  fellowship.  There  is  no 
need  to  dwell  on  this  point.  We  know  that 
it  is  the  exception  to  find  a  home  in  which 
there  is  fellowship.  This  does  not  mean  that 
there  is  no  love,  but  that  there  is  no  companion- 
ship. But  there  is  a  capacity  for  loving  and 
a  craving  for  fellowship,  and  the  educated 
Moslem  girl  is  not  so  submissive  as  formerly 
to  the  choice  of  her  parents,  and  the  educated 
Moslem  youth  is  seeking  for  the  wife  who  can 
be  a  companion.  We  know  of  instances  where 
an  EngHsh  wife  has  been  brought  into  the  home, 
and  sometimes  he  has  found  his  companion 
in  an  educated  Christian  girl. 

V.  Superstition.  I  hesitate  as  I  take  up 
this  point.  Is  not  the  great  aim  of  Satan  to 
subjugate  the  world  to  demoniacal  power 
rather  than  to  spread  absolute  scepticism  ? 
Look  for  a  moment  at  the  superstitions  found 
in  Mohammedanism.  A  Moslem  woman,  con- 
sidered as  a  priestess  by  the  people,  was 
seated  on  her  bed  one  day  as  I  entered  the 


100       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

courtyard.  In  front  of  her  sat  an  old  woman. 
The  priestess  had  in  her  hand  a  Httle  wad  of 
paper  on  which  she  breathed,  repeating  some 
sentences  under  her  breath.  The  old  mother 
eagerly  took  the  paper,  for  will  it  not  mean 
life  to  her  daughter  who  has  been  ill  for  many 
days  ?  She  hastened  away  and  doubtless  put 
the  paper  into  a  httle  cloth  bag  and  fastened 
it  about  the  neck  of  the  child. 

In  another  home  a  member  of  the  family 
has  died.  The  Maulvi  claims  to  have  seen  him 
in  a  dream  needing  a  suit  of  clothes.  The 
Maulvi  hastens  to  tell  the  family.  The  suit 
is  given  to  clothe  the  dead.  We  know  it  was 
used  by  the  Maulvi,  but  the  appeal  that  was 
made  and  that  was  effectual  was  to  clothe  the 
dead.  Again,  during  the  Moharram  which  has 
just  ended,  food  was  carefully  prepared  in 
many  homes  and  given  to  feed  the  dead. 
Ignorance,  you  say.  Yes,  but  we  must  re- 
member the  illiterate  and  ignorant  number 
about  993  out  of  every  thousand  of  Moslems 
in  India. 

This  is  what  we  have  found  in  the  inner 
life  of  most  Mohammedans  :  a  Hfe  failing  to 
discern   sin,    a   mind   bound    and   imprisoned, 


SOCIAL  HINDRANCES  101 

without  progress,  without  real  fellowship,  and 
permeated  with  superstition.  But  thanks  be 
to  God,  our  weapons  are  not  of  the  flesh 
but  mighty  before  God  to  the  casting  down 
of  strongholds ;  casting  down  imaginations 
and  every  high  thing  that  is  exalted  against 
the  knowledge  of  God.  "  Thanks  be  unto 
God  who  giveth  us  the  victory  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord." 


REFORM  IN  EGYPT 

BY 

MISS  ANNA  Y.  THOMPSON 
Cairo 


REFORM  IN  EGYPT 

Not  long  ago  an  old  Mohammedan  Sheikh 
and  a  young  Bey  came  from  a  village  to  see 
about  bringing  girls  to  the  new  American  Mission 
(Alexandria)  boarding-school.  The  old  man 
said,  "  You  know  we  do  not  care  to  have  our 
daughters  stay  in  school  very  long,"  but  the 
young  man  turned  to  him  quickly  and  said, 
"  No,  that  is  past.  Our  country  can  never  be 
great  until  our  women  are  properly  taught." 
This  conversation  shows  the  condition  of  mind 
of  two  generations  of  the  present  day.  There 
are  people  still  Hving,  perhaps  many  of  them, 
who  think  it  is  wrong  (or  dangerous  at  any 
rate)  to  teach  women  to  read.  Once  a  Moslem 
woman  spoke  of  this  to  me  in  a  rather  boastful 
spirit,  just  as  some  women  boast  of  their  being 
kept  at  home  by  their  husbands,  lest  they  should 
be  seen  by  the  conmion  crowd,  these  women 
thinking  it  an  evidence  that  their  husbands 
appreciate  them.  The  women  of  such  families 
belong  to  what  might  be  called  the  past  ages, 

10& 


106       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

who  seem  to  be  contented  with  what  they  have 
been  brought  up  to  do,  and  think.  These  in- 
clude the  great  mass  of  Egyptians,  especially 
in  places  far  from  the  cities. 

Some  months  ago,  a  man  of  some  position  in 
Cairo  prepared  for  the  papers  a  proposed  scheme 
for  the  education  of  Egyptian  girls.  Foreign 
teachers  were  to  be  avoided,  lest  the  rehgious 
views  of  the  children  should  be  affected,  or 
their  morals  and  manners.  The  girls  were  to 
wear  the  covering  of  the  country,  receive  only 
an  elementary  education,  and  leave  school 
before  they  reached  thirteen  years  of  age. 

There  are  some  useful  statistics  in  the 
Egyptian  Government  School  Statistical  Report 
of  1908.  The  total  number  of  Egyptian  girls  in 
school  in  one  day  was  15,721  (of  whom  about 
six  thousand  were  Moslems)  besides  over  nine 
thousand  foreigners.  Of  these  6,517  were  in 
Egyptian  institutions,  Coptic  and  Mohammedan ; 
109  girls  being  of  the  Secondary  and  Higher 
Schools,  and  124  in  Technical  Schools.  There 
were  3,334  Egyptian  girls  in  the  American 
Mission  Schools  the  same  day,  and  754  in  the 
C.M.S.  and  other  British  Mission  Schools. 
The  Egyptian  Government  reported  ten  schools 


REFORM  IN  EGYPT  107 

for  girlb  in  Egypt  with  519  pupilb.  Two  of 
these  are  Training  Schools  where  sixty  young 
women  are  being  trained  for  teachers  either  for 
higher  schools  where  EngHsh  and  Arabic  are 
taught,  or  for  the  small  preparatory  schools. 
Twenty-nine  young  women  were  being  taught 
in  the  School  of  Midwifery  which  is  in  connection 
with  the  Government  Hospital  in  Cairo.  In 
October  of  this  year  a  School  of  Housewifery 
was  opened  in  a  suburb  of  Cairo,  where  a  limited 
number  of  girls  will  be  taught  at  government 
expense. 

In  1907  a  new  University  was  opened  in 
Cairo,  with  Fuad  Pasha,  one  of  the  Khedivial 
princes,  as  President.  Recently  in  London  he 
said  :  "An  interesting  development  last  year 
was  the  formation  of  a  Ladies'  Section,  where 
Mussulman  ladies  and  European  ladies  meet. 
It  was  an  experiment  which  I  resolved  upon 
with  some  little  misgiving.  For  in  an  Oriental 
country  where  the  women  are  not  emancipated, 
and  where,  of  course,  they  still  wear  the 
'  yashmak,'  this  was  rather  venturesome,  but 
I  am  thankful  to  say  that  by  the  blessing  of 
Providence,  people  were  very  little  scandalised, 
and  so  success  was  assured.     The  young  ladies 


108       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

are  ordinary  members  of  the  community  who 
are  not  intended  for  any  profession.  Lectm-es 
on  the  history  of  mankind,  on  motherhood,  on 
household  Ufe,  on  hygiene,  etc.,  are  the  staple 
items  in  the  teaching  on  the  female  side,  and 
those  on  motherhood  I  consider  of  vital  im- 
portance, more  particularly  in  a  country  hke 
Egypt.  On  the  men's  side  the  studies  at 
present  relate  exclusively  to  pohtical  economy 
and  '  belles  lettres.'  " 

He  estimates  that  from  10  to  12  per  cent,  of 
the  Egyptian  population  can  read  and  write. 

There  are  seventy-three  Mohammedan  schools 
for  girls  supported  either  by  societies  or  in- 
dividuals, and  over  three  thousand  pupils  are 
enrolled  in  them.  This  leaves  considerably 
more  than  2,000  Moslem  girls  who  are  being 
educated  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  by  Christian 
schools  of  different  kinds.  Many  of  the  high 
class  families  have  their  daughters  taught  at 
home  by  Enghsh  or  French  governesses  ;  sheikhs 
are  brought  in  for  Arabic  and  Turkish,  and 
for  rehgious  teaching.  Many  women,  who  can 
afford  it,  have  a  sheikh  come  at  regular  inter- 
vals to  recite  the  Koran  in  their  courts,  whether 
the  women  are  Hstening  or  no.     It  is  not  known 


REFORM  IN  EGYPT  109 

to  what  extent  fasting  and  prayer  are  kept  up 
by  the  women,  as  reports  vary  very  much  It 
is  said  that  the  educated  class  can  easily  over- 
come custom  by  saying  they  are  delicate  and 
must  eat  something,  or  that  their  physicians 
forbade  their  fasting.  There  are  others  who 
are  very  scrupulous  in  their  observance  of 
Ramadan;  and  there  are  a  few  who  say  that 
their  mothers  or  friends  pray.  I  think  that 
these  are  generally  women  of  some  age,  and  that 
few  go  to  mosques,  except  to  sheikhs'  tombs,  for 
the  blessing  of  heahng  for  themselves  or  their 
children.  Some  even  go  to  Coptic  churches  for 
a  blessing,  and  observe  the  fifteen  days'  fast  for 
the  Virgin. 

It  is  evident  that  all  along  the  north  of  Africa 
there  is  a  gradual  "  evolution  "  going  on.  The 
street  coverings  are  undergoing  a  series  of 
changes  ;  the  face  veils  of  the  better  classes  are 
now  so  transparent  that  the  beauty  of  the 
wearers  is  only  enhanced.  Women  can  go  out 
together  shopping  or  for  visits  without  being 
accompanied  by  a  ennuch  or  a  servant.  Many 
go  regularly  for  drives,  especially  those  who 
have,  or  have  had,  foreign  governesses.  Women 
who  are  educated  are  beginning  to  know  their 


110       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

rights  as  women,  and  to  claim  them.  The 
marriageable  age  for  a  girl  is  being  raised,  and 
in  Cairo  a  girl  is  seldom  married  under  twelve. 
A  pluraUty  of  wives  is  slowly  going  out  of 
fashion  among  the  educated  and  higher  classes, 
but  there  is  perhaps  not  always  a  higher  state 
of  morals.  It  is  common  still  among  many, 
especially  among  the  wealthy  village  men. 
Recently  I  heard  of  one  young  woman  who 
fretted  herself  to  death  when  she  heard  that 
her  husband  had  gone  to  Cairo  to  marry  another 
wife.  Generally,  if  the  wife  is  of  higher  family 
than  the  husband,  she  can  control  many  things 
besides  her  own  finances.  Much  freedom  is 
allowed  those  who  have  been  to  school,  their 
friends  saying  that  they  can  do  certain  things 
because  they  are  educated  in  a  school.  Oh, 
that  all  teachers  were  perfect  examples  to  these 
girls  ! 

Women  of  position  are  beginning  to  have 
meetings  in  Cairo  to  collect  money  for  the  eleva- 
tion of  women,  and  for  public  charities.  They 
want  to  show  that  they  are  not  behind  their 
Christian  neighbours  in  liberaUty  and  elevation. 

The  political  influence  of  women  is  generally 
in  favour  of  the  Nationalists,  so  many  of  the 


REFORM  IN  EGYPT  111 

educated  youth  being  in  that  party ;  they  are 
often  intensely  interested  in  the  newspapers 
because  of  poHtical  news.  A  good  authority 
says  the  women  follow  their  husbands  in  their 
views  of  things,  whether  political  or  rehgious. 
It  is  certain  that  one  man  can  control  a  neigh- 
bourhood of  huts,  to  accept  Bible  instruction 
from  a  Christian  teacher ;  his  daughter  was  a 
former  pupil  in  a  mission  school,  and  she  still 
reads  with  the  Biblewoman.  Because  this  man, 
who  can  marry  people  or  divorce  them,  allows 
the  teaching  of  the  Bible,  the  neighbouring 
women  accept  the  teacher  willingly,  gathering 
round  her  as  she  goes  from  door  to  door ;  they 
have  also  given  up  many  superstitions  and 
quarrels.  This  district  was  opened  up  by  an 
EngHsh  lady  of  means,  whose  heart  went  out 
to  the  needy  Moslem  poor. 

In  British  and  American  Mission  Hospitals 
and  Chnics  (where  God  has  signally  shown  His 
blessing),  the  patients  all  have  an  opportunity 
of  hearing  of  the  Great  Physician  who  can  cure 
both  soul  and  body,  and  they  are  told  to 
"  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  who  taketh  away 
the  sin  of  the  world."  The  Mohammedans  are 
beginning  to  think  of  the  design  of  these  in- 


112       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

stitutions,  as  well  as  of  the  mission  schools  ; 
they  are  warning  their  people  to  avoid  them. 
The  latest  news  is  a  protest  against  "  Bible- 
women  who  urge  people  to  love  Jesus."  Some 
of  these,  by  God's  help,  give  brave  and  wise 
answers  to  sheikhs  and  other  men  who  try  to 
entangle  them  in  their  teaching,  as  they  go  from 
place  to  place. 

There  is  much  need  of  many  more  tactful, 
Christian  women  who  know  Arabic,  to  visit 
them  in  their  homes,  give  instruction  in  a  kind, 
sympathetic  way,  advising  them  about  their 
sick  and  suffering,  bringing  simple  remedies  to 
the  poor  ones,  etc.,  but  especially  bringing  to 
them  the  Bread  of  Life.  Those  Moslems  who 
have  at  any  time  been  in  mission  schools  can 
be  reasoned  with,  and  there  is  always  something 
to  build  upon,  in  a  conversation.  There  are 
many  Moslem  girls  in  different  mission  schools, 
some  who  remain  to  complete  the  prescribed 
course  of  study,  even  in  the  higher  grades  of  the 
American  Mission  boarding-schools  ;  and  the 
number  of  boarders  from  good  Moslem  famihes  is 
greater  tliis  year  than  ever  before. 

Primary  schools  should  be  greatly  increased 
for  girls,  so  that  they  could  learn  to  read  and 


REFORM  IN  EGYPT  113 

write  Arabic,  as  well  as  learn  the  principles  of 
religion  and  morality,  and  a  little  sewing. 

The  representatives  of  the  rehgion  of  the  holy 
Christ  must  be  reformed  in  some  things  too. 
For  do  we  wish  the  Moslems  to  adopt  the  life 
and  accept  the  principles  of  those  who  make  the 
world  their  aim  ;   whose  desires  are  for  fashion, 
wealth   and   amusement ;     in   some    cases   for 
loose  living  ?     It  makes  one  shudder  to  have  a 
Moslem  ask  :    ''  Do  not  all  Christians  drink  ?  " 
And  to  have  low  class  Mohammedans  think  that 
all  Christian  women  are  examples  of  immoraHty. 
Of  Algeria  and  Tunis  Miss  Trotter  writes  : 
"  Among  the  classes  mth  which  we  are  in  con- 
tact, the  men  are,  for  the  most  part,  so  illiterate 
that  they  know  and  care  very  little  about  the 
forward  movement  in  Turkey,  etc. ;    therefore 
their  wives  know  and  care  still  less.     In  towns, 
such  as  Algiers,  there  is  a  tendency,  through  the 
influence  of  the  European  element  around,  to 
become  less  careful  in  the  matter  of  veiling,  at 
any  rate  before  European  men  ;    and  the  large 
influx  of  Kabyle  women,  who  do  not  veil  in  their 
mountain  homes,  tends  also  to  break  down  the 
strict  standard  of  former  years.      I  have  also 
noticed  more  laxity  of  late  among  respectable 


114       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

women  in  the  use  of  the  curtain.  In  Algiers, 
and  to  a  certain  extent  in  the  smaller  towns, 
the  Arabs  have  begun  to  send  their  girls,  far 
more  than  in  the  past,  to  the  ordinary  French 
day  schools,  which  means  putting  them  into 
hats  and  pinafores,  and  dispensing  with  the  veil 
till  they  leave  school  at  the  age  of  ten  or  twelve. 

"  The  Kabyles  have  a  certain  choice  as  regards 
marriage,  and  among  the  Arabs  a  widow  or  a 
divorced  woman  has  a  certain  hberty  to  accept 
or  refuse.  This  is  nothing  new ;  but  in  the 
case  of  matrimonial  difficulties  there  is  an  in- 
creasing tendency  to  appeal  to  the  European 
courts.  The  country  women  remain  untouched 
in  the  above  way.  We  are  shut  out  from  seek- 
ing contact  with  those  of  the  official  classes,  but 
we  can  visit  the  famihes  of  shopkeepers,  day 
labourers,  etc. 

"I  have  heard  that  in  Tunis  those  of  the 
labour  class  are  throwing  off  much  of  the  old 
bondage.  I  should  say  that  the  more  thought- 
ful and  experienced  women  of  the  lower  classes 
are  in  no  way  averse  to  taking  small  steps  to- 
ward hberty,  which  liberty  seems  to  be  brought 
about  more  by  circumstances,  such  as  contact 
with  Europeans,  than  by  any  deliberate  move 


REFORM  IN  EGYPT  116 

towards  reform.  The  laxity  involved  seems  at 
present  to  have  in  it  many  dangerous  elements, 
being  more  of  the  nature  of  a  drift  than  from 
any  principle.  We  have  hope,  however,  that 
it  may  in  the  end  bring  about  a  disintegrating 
of  the  solidarity  of  Islam  in  which  Christian 
liberty  will  make  a  breach.  It  seems  to  me 
that  in  this  country  we  have,  in  view  of  the 
loosening  of  the  moral  restraints  involved  in 
the  above,  to  deal  very  clearly  with  the  women 
on  the  danger  involved.  Also  that  we  should 
let  them  see  the  true  Christian  ideal  of  hberty  in 
home  Ufe,  but  showing  them  it  is  safe  because 
of  the  ideal  of  purity." 

In  Egypt,  some  of  the  old  customs,  in  regard 
to  those  who  give  up  Mohammedanism,  are  still 
in  force,  so  it  is  difficult  for  a  woman  to  profess 
Christianity  unless  her  husband  approves  of 
it,  as  she  may  lose  everything,  including  her 
family.  This  appeared  by  the  judgment  of 
the  native  courts,  when  one  of  the  Princesses 
married  a  Russian  Count  in  Paris.  She  lost  all 
her  property  and  position  by  her  marriage  with 
a  non-Moslem. 

Those  who  have  been  baptized  have  gener- 
ally had  the  protection  of  boarding-schools  or 


116       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

hospitals  or  mission  families,  where  they  can 
find  work  and  sympathy. 

There  is  a  feverish  excitement  these  days,  as 
if  the  Moslems  were  afraid  of  losing  their 
religion,  and  they  think  that  the  Government 
must  be  frequently  called  upon  to  help  them 
retain  it. 

But  there  is  a  willingness  to  listen  to  Chris- 
tian teaching,  more  than  ever  before,  with  a 
greater  desire  for  education  in  Christian  schools, 
so  that  those  who  look  for  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promises  for  Egypt  are  feehng  these  days  of 
unrest  indicate  the  near  approach  of  the  display 
of  Christ's  power  and  reign. 

"  Our  GOD  shall  surely  come." 


AWAKENING  WOMANHOOD 

BY 

MISS  G.  Y.  HOLLIDAY 


AWAKENING  WOMANHOOD 

Some  seven  years  ago  a  prominent  Moslem  of 
Persia  was  asked  his  opinion  of  the  futm-e  of 
his  country.  He  replied :  "  There  is  no  hope 
for  us,  none ;  of  a  sleeper  it  may  be  said,  he 
will  awake  ;  of  a  sick  man,  he  may  recover ; 
but  what  of  him  who  is  already  dead  and  de- 
caying ?  Only  a  miracle  can  revive  him ; 
Persia  is  neither  asleep  nor  ill,  she  is  dead." 
To  all  human  sight  and  judgment,  this  opinion 
was  absolutely  correct ;  yet,  in  the  brief  time 
since  those  words  were  spoken,  the  miracle  has 
been  wrought,  the  dead  is  risen  to  hfe.  Our 
wondering  eyes  have  seen  the  birth  of  national 
consciousness  and  the  first  feeble  efforts  to 
join  the  march  of  an  advancing  world. 

Perhaps  the  successful  defence  of  Tabriz 
through  a  twice-repeated  siege,  when  its  people 
fought  almost  single-handed,  not  only  with  a 
cruel  and  merciless  foe  outside  their  walls,  but 
with  foes  within  as  well  as  famine  and  pestilence 
is  too  recent  for  us  to  recognise  its  heroism, 

119 


120       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

but  when  the  history  of  the  new  Persia  is 
written  it  mil  rise  to  its  true  proportion  and 
perspective.  Even  now  it  shows  us  what  this 
despised  people  can  be  and  do. 

In  the  early  days  of  reform  we  know  not 
whether  to  laugh  or  cry  over  those  pathetic 
crude  attempts  to  reahse  their  vague  dreams  of 
freedom  ;  we  ghbly  said  they  did  not  know  for 
what  they  rejoiced  when  the  Constitution  was 
proclaimed,  or  for  what  they  flew  to  arms  when 
it  was  abrogated. 

But  they  understood  more  than  w^e  knew  ; 
the  breezes  of  freer  thought,  now  blowing  over 
the  non- Christian  world,  were  rousing  them  to 
hopes  of  changes  that  should  make  Ufe  easier 
for  their  children  than  it  had  been  for  themselves. 

It  was  an  unheard  of  thing  for  women 
to  take  any  interest  in  politics  ;  poor,  stupid 
creatures,  how  should  they  ?  Accustomed  to 
be  called  donkeys,  daughters  of  dogs,  what 
could  they  know  or  do.  But  now  came  the 
surprising  sight  of  women  eagerly  discussing 
the  same  questions  as  the  men,  and  their  men 
as  eagerly  informing  and  instructing  them, 
seeking  and  leaning  on  their  sympathy  and 
interest. 


AWAKENING  WOMANHOOD        121 

From  the  royal  princess,  who  proudly  ex- 
hibited her  father's  picture,  telKng  of  his  execu- 
tion years  ago  for  advocating  govermental 
reform,  to  the  poor  washerwoman  who  day  by 
day  came  in,  full  of  zeal  for  the  Constitution, 
repeating  the  last  news  her  men  had  brought 
from  the  bazaar,  none  were  indifferent,  all  had 
taken  sides  for  or  against  the  popular  move- 
ment. 

It  was  a  middle- class  woman,  frivolous  and 
ignorant,  whom  one  would  hardly  credit  with 
abihty  to  put  two  consecutive  ideas  together, 
who  asked  my  opinion  of  Mashruta  (Con- 
stitution). I  had  not  then  heard  the  new  word, 
and  she  carefully  explained  its  meaning,  as 
her  husband  had  instructed  her. 

Many  of  these  women  suffered  severely  in 
the  reaction  which  followed  the  first  brief 
triumph  of  reform  and  constitutional  govern- 
ment, in  personal  privation,  in  loss  of  property, 
in  the  murder  of  dear  ones  ;  some  were  driven 
from  their  homes  in  the  darkness  of  the  night, 
fleeing  bare-footed  and  half  clothed  to  places 
of  safety.  Little  repining  has  been  heard ; 
they  are  setting  their  faces  to  the  future,  and 
adapting  themselves  to  changed  conditions. 


U2       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

It  has  been  hard  to  gather  information  from 
the  whole  of  the  country ;  what  is  said  here 
applies  to  the  northern  provinces,  where  the 
reforms  had  their  birth,  and  where,  for  over 
three  years,  they  have  been  struggUng  for 
existence. 

There  is  evidently  a  very  general  desire  for 
education,  there  are  changes  in  dress,  and  to  a 
very  small  extent  in  social  customs,  but  there  is 
no  idea  of  any  change  in  rehgion. 

From  Urumia,  in  the  extreme  north-west, 
where  missions  have  been  very  successful  among 
nominal  Christians,  Nestorian  Syrians,  we  hear : 
"  Om*  Moslem  women  are  interested  in  reforms 
of  various  kinds.  Many  girls  are  learning  to 
read  in  our  schools  or  with  their  own  teachers. 
Many  are  reading  the  newspapers  ;  one  girl, 
fourteen  or  fifteen  years  old,  has  prepared  an 
elementary  school  book,  containing  a  Uttle 
hygiene  and  general  science.  Her  father  has 
taken  it  to  Russia  for  pubHcation. 

"  No  one  thinks  of  leaving  of!  the  veil  in  the 
street,  but  some  have  adopted  our  long  dresses 
in  their  homes,  making  the  house  wrap  un- 
necessary. At  the  closing  exercises  of  our 
Moslem  girls'  school  this  summer  most  of  the 


AWAKENING  WOMANHOOD        123 

girls  appeared  on  the  platform  in  dresses  like 
ours.  Though  the  room  was  crowded  with 
Moslem  ladies  of  all  ranks  we  heard  no  un- 
pleasant criticisms. 

"  One  Moslem  lady  of  high  rank  receives  men 
callers,  but  this  is  not  considered  proper. 

"Many  will  not  give  their  daughters  in 
marriage  at  an  early  age,  as  formerly,  because 
they  wish  them  to  have  an  education. 

"  Those  wishing  to  study  are  more  from  the 
higher  classes,  who  have  money  and  leisure. 

"  The  Moslem  ladies  are  not  actively  pushing 
reform.  The  greatest  changes  among  them 
are  in  regard  to  dress  and  education,  induced 
partly  by  foreign  indirect  influence,  partly  by 
contact  with  educated  Syrian  women.  At 
one  time  a  committee  of  Moslem  ladies  planned 
a  girls'  school,  to  be  supported  and  controlled 
by  themselves,  but  the  plan  was  not  carried 
out." 

Tabriz  is  the  second  city  of  Persia  as  to 
population,  perhaps  first  in  its  influence  in 
bringing  about  the  recent  reforms.  The  capital 
of  the  most  important  province,  only  eighty 
miles  from  the  Russian  border  or  in  close 
conimunication  with  Turkey  on  the  west,  it  is 


124       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

powerfully  influenced  by  all  movements  in 
those  countries.  It  is  one  of  the  most  fanatical 
cities  of  Persia. 

There  is  much  desire  for  education  and  much 
planning,  so  far  without  much  result,  for  schools 
of  their  own. 

The  general  mutual  distrust,  which  is  a 
marked  characteristic  of  Moslem  Hfe,  and  the 
great  difficulty  in  finding  Moslem  women  of 
character  who  are  able  to  teach  and  manage  a 
school,  have  stood  in  the  way. 

One  of  our  Armenian  teachers  has  been  asked 
to  come  to  them  on  condition  that  she  should 
teach  no  Christianity. 

The  Armenian  mission  has  a  small,  but 
rapidly  growing  school  for  Moslem  girls,  where 
they  receive  Bible  instruction  and  attend 
prayers  in  their  own  language.  The  girls  are 
adopting  European  dress.  It  is  also  worn  in 
many  homes,  especially  by  the  children. 

Reshd  reports  a  desire  for  education,  and 
some  greater  freedom  in  social  Hfe  and  customs 
among  those  who  are  known  as  "  Hberals." 

Isfahan  is  almost  untouched  by  the  reform 
movement,  except  as  regards  the  desire  for 
education,  but  no  schools  as  yet  are  opened 


AWAKENING  WOMANHOOD        1^5 

there,  except  by  the  C.  M.  S. ;  lack  of  missionaries 
and  funds  render  these  painfully  inadequate  to 
the  demand. 

Teheran.  In  one  short  year  the  women  of 
this  city  have  made  astonishing  progress,  con- 
sidering their  lack  of  education  and  the  ordinary 
privileges  of  women  in  Christian  countries. 
Still  behind  the  veil,  still  restricted  by  rehgious 
law,  still  considered  man's  inferior,  they  have 
this  last  year  established  over  a  hundred 
schools  for  girls  ;  attended,  as  the  inspector  of 
schools  informs  us,  by  some  hundreds  of  pupils. 

They  have  organised  societies  for  the  pro- 
motion of  education  and  progress,  one  pre- 
sided over  by  an  Armenian  lady,  aiming  by 
popular  lectures,  cinematograph  entertainments, 
amateur  theatricals,  etc.,  to  raise  money  to 
help  to  pay  the  national  debt.  These  per- 
formances are,  of  course,  managed  and  attended 
exclusively  by  women. 

The  changes  have  been  more  gradual  than 
appears  on  the  surface,  being  in  great  measure 
due  to  the  work  of  the  missionaries,  particularly 
through  the  schools,  for  it  was  our  educated 
boys  who  first  brought  sisters,  fiancees,  and 
daughters  to  school. 


126       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

Their  own  schools  are  very  rudimentary  and 
much  hampered  by  the  lack  of  competent 
teachers.  At  a  recent  examination  of  one  of 
the  largest,  it  was  noticed  that  a  mother  and 
her  two  Httle  girls,  the  youngest  about  seven, 
were  in  the  same  class,  reciting  from  a  text- 
book on  History  and  Geography,  which  they 
had  apparently  committed  to  memory.  As 
soon  as  they  could  read,  the  woman  of  thirty 
and  the  Httle  child  were  placed  on  the  same 
level.  This  is  partly  due  to  the  scarcity  of 
Persian  text-books. 

Last  winter,  one  of  our  school  boys,  in  a 
public  meeting,  boldly  advocated  the  removal 
of  the  veil,  and  the  equal  education  of  men  and 
women.  He  is  a  young  man  of  some  importance, 
having  a  government  position.  The  veil  will 
not  soon  pass,  but  there  is  a  noticeable  care- 
lessness in  its  use.  In  a  large  village,  a  day's 
journey  distant  from  Teheran,  a  woman  who 
had  recently  visited  the  city  reported  the  great 
changes  in  the  women's  dress.  She  said  :  "  No 
one  wears  the  short  skirts  any  more  ;  even  in 
the  mosque,  I  saw  many  ^\ith  long  skirts  and 
the  black  horsehair  face  covering."  The  cus- 
tomary  street    dress    is    a   divided  trouserlike 


AWAKENING  WOMANHOOD       127 

garment  drawn  over  the  very  short  house  skirts 
all  covered  by  the  large  "  chadir "  (tent), 
which,  as  yet,  no  one  thinks  of  discarding.  A 
long  white  face  veil,  mth  a  small  piece  of  drawn 
open  work  over  the  eyes,  is  fastened  over  the 
chadir  or  charshov.  Now  they  are  replacing 
this  last-named  veil  with  the  black  horsehair 
covering,  which  is  much  more  comfortable  and 
less  injurious  to  the  eyes,  though  it  does  not  so 
effectually  conceal  the  features. 

The  Behais,  who  seem  to  be  increasing  in 
Persia,  especially  since  American  converts  and 
American  money  are  coming  to  their  aid, 
theoretically  accept  the  equaHty  of  the  sexes 
though  the  social  conditions  do  not  favour  the 
free  practice  of  their  opinions.  It  is  said  a 
meeting  was  held  among  them  where  the  women 
were  with  much  difficulty  induced  to  remove 
their  veils  and  sit  in  the  same  room  with  the 
brethren.  The  latter,  though  at  first  em- 
barrassed, finally  became  so  forward  that  the 
sisters  fled  from  them  in  dismay,  the  experi- 
ment not  being  very  successful. 

In  their  homes  we  find  the  women  more 
awake  and  interested  in  matters  outside  of  the 
often  worse  than  idle  gossip  of  the  harem. 


128       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

They  eagerly  read  or  listen  to  the  various 
newspapers.  The  discovery  of  the  North  Pole, 
though  not  very  well  understood,  was  at  one 
time  a  topic  worn  threadbare  in  our  calls. 

In  the  better  class  homes  the  girls  are  not 
married  so  young  as  formerly,  i,e,  from  the  age 
of  eight  to  sixteen  years. 

Many  of  the  women  are  intensely  patriotic, 
some  for  absolutism,  many  more  for  the  Con- 
stitution. An  interesting  society  has  been 
formed,  pledging  its  members  against  the  use 
of  tobacco.  At  last  accounts  it  numbered 
about  twenty-five  young  women,  who  wear  a 
badge,  pink  and  grey  ribbon.  To  one  who 
knows  the  great  evils  caused  by  the  indulgence 
of  women  and  children  in  smoking  to  excess, 
this  movement  toward  reform  is  most  en- 
couraging. 

Ramadan.  I  have  not  so  far  seen  one  woman 
who  seemed  to  think  of  the  possibility  of  reform. 
Now,  as  always,  they  cry  out  against  the  wrongs 
of  plural  marriage  and  divorce,  admitting  the 
evil  in  giving  httle  children  in  marriage,  but  if 
some  wealthy  man  wants  the  daughter  of  the 
very  woman  who  has  talked  most  bitterly,  she 
is  quick  to  give  her,  often  to  be  only  a  concubine. 


AWAKENING  WOMANHOOD        129 

The  few  women  who  desire  education  for  their 
daughters  are  those  who  have  been  under  direct 
mission  influence,  they  are  from  the  higher 
classes,  the  men  of  their  famihes  being  much 
erJightened,  conversant  with  Christian  hfe  and 
ideals  from  seeing  the  pm*e  and  happy  homes  of 
people  of  that  faith. 

Last  year  we  had  about  twenty-seven  Moslem 
girls  in  oiu*  school.  A  weekly  prayer  meet- 
ing is  held,  attended  by  more  Moslem  than 
Christian  women.  Our  medical  work  reaches 
many  ;  these  are  the  best  reform  movements  of 
which  I  know.  I  know  the  women  of  Islam  in 
this  place  have  no  organised  movement  among 
themselves. 

As  to  discarding  the  veil,  I  should  be  very 
sorry  to  see  them  going  with  uncovered  faces 
tiU  they  have  a  religion  which  requires  purity 
of  heart  instead  of  outward  restraint,  and  which 
knows  neither  polygamy  nor  divorce. 

There  are  no  more  beautiful,  capable,  or 
clever  women  in  the  world,  than  many  of  our 
Persian  sisters.  It  rests  largely  mth  us  to  say 
how  much  longer  they  shall  be  deprived  of  the 
privileges  we  have  so  long  enjoyed  that  we  have 
ceased  to  appreciate  them. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  HEALING 

BY 

MISS  E.  M.  STUART,  M.D. 
Ispahan,  Persia 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  HEALING 

However  many  may  be  the  objectors  to 
the  evangehsation  of  Mohammedans,  there  is 
probably  no  one  who  does  not  approve  of 
medical  work  amongst  them.  Although  it 
may  be  difficult  to  bring  home  the  claims  of 
such  work  upon  Christian  doctors  and  nurses 
in  such  a  way  that  they  feel  compelled  to  offer 
themselves  in  sufficient  numbers  for  it,  yet  it 
is  easy  to  arouse  their  interest  in  it,  and  the 
majority  will  agree  that  the  work  is  a  valuable, 
philanthropic,  and  ChristHke  one.  It  can  only 
be  those  who  are  absolutely  ignorant  of  the 
state  of  the  Mohammedan  world,  and  the 
condition  of  people,  especially  women,  under 
Moslem  law,  who  could  be  guilty  of  ob- 
jecting to  Medical  Mission  work  amongst 
them. 

In  this  paper  I  would  like  to  try  and 
emphasise  the  importance  of  this  work,  its 
need,  its  influence,  and  its  limits. 

133 


1S4       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

I.   The   Need   for   Medical  Mission  Work 

In  these  days  of  enlightenment,  dissemination 
of  missionary  literature,  and  multiplication 
of  meetings  and  conferences,  there  are  com- 
paratively few  Christian  people  who  do  not 
know  something  at  least  of  the  Mohammedan 
rehgion,  and  some  of  its  principal  laws  and 
customs,  and  yet,  quite  lately,  I  have  met 
with  some  who  make  the  most  surprisingly 
erratic  statements  about  Mohammedanism  and 
Moslems  or  ask  such  elementary  questions 
about  them,  that  I  feel  I  may,  for  their  benefit, 
tell  once  more  what  has  been  so  often  told 
before,  to  impress  the  great  need  now  existing 
for  more  helpers  in  the  work. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  native  doctors,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  trained  in  Western  methods, 
are  utterly  ignorant  of  surgery ;  while  their 
knowledge  of  medicine  is  largely  supplemented 
by  superstition.  There  is  probably  no  native 
doctor  (with  the  aforesaid  exceptions)  who 
takes  to  the  profession  from  philanthropic 
motives,  or  who  is  actuated  by  a  desire  to 
lessen  the  sufferings  of  his  fellow- creatures. 
They  are,  as  a  class,  filled  with  greed  of  gain, 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  HEALING      135 

their  chief  idea  being  to  enrich  themselves 
at  the  expense  of  credulous  patients.  With 
this  end  in  view  they  will  often  magnify  a 
trifling  injury,  or  unduly  prolong  a  sHght 
illness,  so  that  they  may  get  all  they  can  out 
of  their  patients,  and  frequently  when  the 
money  comes  to  an  end,  the  "  doctor's " 
services  do  Hkewise,  so  it  is  constantly  true 
that  the  last  state  of  these  patients  is  worse 
than  the  first. 

Charms  and  superstitious  customs  play  a 
large  part  in  the  treatment  of  patients  in 
Persia  and  other  Moslem  lands.  A  doctor 
will  often  safeguard  his  reputation  by  some  such 
method  as  the  following :  He  tells  his  patient 
to  take  a  decoction  of  a  certain  drug  for  forty 
consecutive  days,  but  if,  during  that  period, 
she  once  loses  her  temper,  the  effect  of  the  drug 
will  be  nil.  At  the  end  of  the  forty  days,  if 
the  patient  complains  of  feehng  no  better, 
the  "  hakeem  "  tells  her  she  must  have  lost 
her  temper.  That  goes  without  saying,  as 
the  Persian  women  are  very  prone  to  "  boil," 
as  they  call  it,  and  have  no  notion  whatever 
of  self-control. 

In  spite  of  all  this  there  is  something  to  be 


136       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

said  in  favour  of  native  medical  treatment, 
but  nothing  at  all  for  their  surgical  work ; 
in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  the  poor  patient  would 
do  far  better  left  to  nature  than  in  trusting 
herself  to  the  surgical  mercies  of  an  ignorant 
''  hakeem."  A  large  proportion  of  our  surgical 
cases  in  Persia  are  either  caused  or  aggravated 
by  native  interference  before  the  patients 
are  brought  to  our  hospitals.  Many  and  many 
are  the  eyes  rendered  hopelessly  bhnd  by 
attempts  of  native  doctors  to  perform  cataract 
or  other  operations  on  them ;  many  a  gan- 
grenous hmb  has  to  be  amputated,  the  result 
of  tight  bandaging  by  a  native  "  bone-setter  "  ; 
many  a  hfe  is  lost  through  blood-poisoning 
caused  by  lancing  a  small  abscess  with  a  dirty 
knife.  Every  Mission  Hospital  could  tell  tale 
after  tale  of  needless  suffering  and  loss  of  hfe 
and  hmb  which  might  have  been  averted  had 
the  patients  been  seen  and  treated  before 
the  native  doctors  had  had  their  innings. 

I  have  not  yet  touched  on  the  great  need  for 
skilled  medical  attendance  on  Moslem  women 
in  their  hour  of  peril  at  childbirth.  True, 
in  the  great  majority  of  cases  where  all  goes 
well,  nothing  is  needed  beyond  the  care  a  native 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  HEALING      137 

midwife  can  give.  But  in  every  Moslem  land 
there  are  countless  lives  lost  every  year  from 
lack  of  skilled  assistance  when  it  is  sorely 
needed.  This  work  calls  specially  for  women- 
doctors  and  nurses,  for  though  Moslem  women 
will  consent  to  see  men-doctors  for  many  of 
their  ailments,  and  will  even  crowd  out  the  men- 
patients  at  dispensaries  taken  by  male- doctors, 
very  few  will  allow  a  man  to  give  them  the 
assistance  they  need  in  difficult  labour ;  were 
even  the  women  themselves  willing,  it  is  very 
uncommon  for  the  husbands  and  other  male 
relations  to  consent  to  it.  As  a  rule  they 
would  rather  the  women  died  than  allow  a  man 
to  interfere  ;  the  only  comfort  they  give  them 
is  the  assurance  of  the  Prophet  that  women 
who  die  in  childbirth  go  straight  to  Paradise. 

Here,  then,  is  an  enormous  field  for  women- 
doctors,  and  nurses  trained  in  midwifery. 
Why,  oh,  why,  with  the  need  so  real  and  so 
apparent,  is  the  supply  of  such  so  lamentably 
smaU? 

II.  The  Influence  of  Medical  Mission  Work 

When  one  thinks  of  the  influence  a  well- 
known  and  trusted  family  doctor  has  at  home, 


138       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

where  he  is  often  not  only  the  valued  physician, 
but  the  family  friend  and  adviser,  one  can 
reaHse  something  of  what  power  a  medical 
missionary  may  have  on  Moslem  hearts  when 
once  prejudices  have  been  overcome,  when 
the  individual  has  become  known,  loved  and 
trusted.  "  When  once  prejudices  have  been 
overcome,"  but  here  at  the  outset  we  are  met 
with  a  big  condition.  Although  Mohammedans 
will  flock  to  our  dispensaries  as  soon  as  they 
are  opened,  and  though  they  look  upon  every 
European  as  a  "  hakeem,"  yet  they  are  by  no 
means  ready  to  trust  themselves  in  "  Feringee," 
or  foreign  hands.  They  will  accept  our  medi- 
cines, indeed  clamour  for  them,  but  it  is  not 
at  all  certain  they  that  will  obey  the  direc- 
tions and  swallow  these  same  medicines.  The 
"  istikhara  "  has  first  to  be  taken,  i.e,  the  string 
of  beads  consulted,  to  see  whether  the  omen 
is  good  or  bad  for  the  medicine.  If  bad, 
nothing  will  induce  the  superstitious  patient 
to  follow  the  advice  given.  She  will  place 
the  pills  or  powders  or  bottle  of  medicine  on 
the  shelf  in  her  house,  there  to  he  untasted 
and  covered  with  dust  until  perhaps  some 
other  day  she  falls  ill  of  quite  another  disease. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  HEALING      139 

Then,  without  further  reference  to  the  Feringee 
doctor,  the  istikhara  is  taken ;  the  answer 
coming  out  good,  the  medicine  is  taken  for 
this  new  illness  without  any  regard  to  the  fact 
of  its  having  been  prescribed  for  a  totally 
different  complaint !  Or  maybe  a  neighbour 
or  neighbour's  child  is  ill,  and  the  dust- covered 
pills  or  powders  are  at  last  brought  into  re- 
quisition, the  "  omen "  having  assured  them 
that  all  would  be  well. 

Again  before  consent  to  a  necessary  opera- 
tion is  obtained,  recourse  must  be  had  to  the 
istikhara,  whose  decision  is  considered  final. 
Many  a  Hfe  has  been  lost  by  the  refusal  of 
the  patient  or  friends  on  that  account  to 
undergo  what  would  in  all  probability  have 
saved  her  hfe. 

All  this,  as  well  as  prejudices  against  certain 
kinds  of  food,  against  hquid  medicines,  against 
water  drawn  from  wells  on  premises  inhabited 
by  Christians,  and  last,  but  not  least,  the  dread 
of  dying  in  a  Christian  dwelhng,  makes  hospital 
work  a  real  difficulty  in  Moslem  lands,  and 
renders  the  beginning  of  practice  amongst 
Mohammedans  up-hill  and  discoiu-aging  work 
to  the  medical  missionary. 


140       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

But,  as  I  have  said,  when  once  these  pre- 
judices have  been  overcome,  what  a  field 
of  influence  is  open.  By  steady,  loving,  faithful 
work  they  will  be  overcome — they  have  been 
overcome  in  every  Medical  Mission  station 
in  this  land  of  Persia. 

Here,  only  a  few  years  ago,  the  people  eyed 
us  with  suspicion,  refused  our  treatment,  only 
came  to  us  as  a  last  resource,  because  all  other 
efforts  had  failed  them,  being  often  then  too 
late  for  our  aid.  In  those  days  a  failure  in 
operation  brought  us  into  danger  from  the 
anger  of  the  mob.  We  were  not  able  to  hve 
in  the  bigoted  Mohamm_edan  town  of  Ispahan, 
but  only  in  its  Armenian  suburb.  Even  visits 
to  town  were  fraught  with  danger,  sometimes 
being  impossible  during  their  sacred  months 
or  on  important  fast  days. 

But  what  a  complete  change  we  see  now  ! 
At  the  present  moment  we  have  two  hospitals, 
containing  between  them  nearly  two  hundred 
beds,  built  in  Ispahan  itself.  We  visit  freely 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  town 
at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night  and  quite 
irrespective  of  sacred  days  and  months.  In 
fact  we   may   ride   right   through  the   middle 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  HEALING      141 

of  a  religious  procession  without  the  least 
danger  of  being  attacked.  Nowadays  patients 
are  constantly  brought  straight  to  us  without 
having  first  been  taken  the  round  of  the  native 
doctors.  Now  we  can  operate  without  fear, 
even  though  the  operation  be  a  dangerous  one 
and  the  result  prove  fatal,  because  we  know 
the  people  trust  us  and  beheve  in  our  skill  and 
desire  to  help  them.  A  few  years  ago  when 
paying  a  visit  in  a  house  for  the  first  time 
we  would  be  regarded  with  dislike  and  suspicion, 
and  even  the  attempt  to  take  a  temperature 
or  apply  the  stethoscope  would  be  looked  on 
with  fear  and  distrust  and  perhaps  prevented 
altogether.  If  tea  were  offered  (as  it  probably 
would  be)  in  tiny  glasses  according  to  Persian 
custom,  we  knew  quite  well  that  the  glasses, 
defiled  by  the  touch  of  Christian  hps,  would 
be  smashed  as  soon  as  we  left  the  house  so  that 
no  one,  by  using  them  after  us,  could  be  con- 
taminated by  our  uncleanness.  But  now  there 
are  few  houses  we  visit,  even  for  the  first 
time  where  we  are  not  met  with  friendly  faces, 
and  a  trustful  attitude.  Even  if  the  patient 
and  her  family  do  not  know  us  personally, 
some  one  is  sure  to  be  present  who  does,  who 


142       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

has  persuaded  them  to  send  for  us,  who  has 
filled  their  ears  with  tales  of  our  skill  and 
knowledge,  and  the  wonderful  cases  she  has 
seen  in  the  hospital.  This  mutual  friend  will 
explain  each  thing  as  we  recommend  it,  and  make 
the  new  patient  ready  to  follow  our  advice. 
Tea  is  offered  and  accepted  while  we  know  there 
is  no  question  of  breaking  the  glasses  after  we 
leave.  Sometimes  om^  friends  will  even  drain 
the  dregs  in  our  glasses  just  to  show  there  is 
no  thought  of  our  being  unclean  in  their  estima- 
tion. Then  comes  the  opportunity  for  talk 
and  reading,  with  the  invitation  to  come  to  our 
Sunday  services  or  visit  us  in  our  own  home. 
Only  a  few  of  the  very  upper  class  ladies  are 
kept  in  seclusion  in  Persia  and  unable  to  pay 
us  return  visits.  The  majority  have  a  great 
deal  of  freedom,  only  they  must  keep  themselves 
closely  veiled  in  the  streets,  or  in  the  presence 
of  men.  In  this  way  we  have  been  able  to 
make  a  great  many  friends  amongst  Persian 
ladies  of  the  upper  class,  and  many  more 
houses  are  open  to  us  for  visiting  than  we  can 
possibly  enter  with  our  small  staff. 

As  for  the  influence  of  the  Hospital  itself, 
it  is  felt  throughout  the  whole  of  the  surrounding 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  HEALING      143 

country.  Patients  who  stay  with  us  for  a 
longer  or  shorter  time  can  not  only  testify 
as  to  what  has  been  done  for  themselves,  but 
for  many  others  in  far  worse  conditions.  As 
they  return  to  their  homes  in  distant  villages 
they  carry  with  them  tales  of  the  wonderful 
things  they  have  heard  and  seen,  and  thus 
the  fame  of  the  Medical  Mission  is  spread  far 
and  wide,  and  its  influence  extended  throughout 
the  land. 

III.  Limits  of  Medical  Mission  Work 

As  we  have  seen,  medical  missions  have  a 
wide  scope  in  Moslem  lands  in  the  removal  of 
prejudices,  the  softening  of  hard  hearts,  the 
influencing  of  people  both  directly  and  indirectly, 
the  opening  of  hitherto  closed  doors.  But  the 
aim  and  object  of  medical  missions  is  more  than 
this.  The  raison  d'etre  of  medical  mission 
work  is  the  same  as  that  of  all  missionary  work. 
The  medical  work  is,  after  all,  only  a  means  to 
an  end ;  that  end  being  the  extension  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ.  Ours  is  a  double 
work — heaHng  the  sick  and  preaching  the 
Gospel.  Any  medical  mission  where  evangeHstic 
work  is  not  being  carried  on  with  as  great  zeal 


144       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

and  faithfulness  as  the  medical  and  surgical 
work,  is  a  failure,  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to 
say  so.  It  fails  to  justify  its  existence  and  is 
not  worthy  of  its  name. 

But  even  where  the  spiritual  side  of  the  work 
is  faithfully  carried  on  and  medical  missionaries 
have  the  joy  (as,  thank  God,  we  in  Persia  have 
had)  of  seeing  souls  won  through  their  ministra- 
tions for  Jesus  Christ,  yet  the  work  has  its 
limits.  The  majority  of  converts,  for  instance, 
who  have  been  won  through  the  work  of  our 
Women's  Hospital  in  Ispahan,  are  poor, 
iUiterate,  often  sickly  women  and  girls  who, 
though  they  have  found  and  rejoice  in  the  way 
of  salvation  for  themselves,  are  not  likely  to 
become  great  powers  for  Christ  in  the  way  of 
winning  many  others  to  a  faith  in  Him.  We  do 
not,  in  the  nature  of  things,  look  to  these  weak 
women  to  become  the  pillars  of  a  Christian 
Church  to  be  estabhshed  in  the  land.  For  that 
we  turn  to  the  educated  youth  of  Persia,  to 
those  who  in  time  mil  become  leaders,  or  mothers 
and  wives  of  leaders,  and  as  such  exercise  a 
mighty  influence  in  the  country.  But  where 
are  such  educated  youths  to  be  found  ?  Where 
are  the  boys  and  girls  who  are  being  trained  for 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  HEALING      145 

future  work,  and  the  salvation  of  their  country  ? 
Our  Medical  Missions  have  done  and  are  doing 
their  work.  They  have  removed  prejudices, 
and  opened  doors  on  every  side  for  educational 
missionaries  to  enter,  but  these  do  not  come  ! 
Of  what  use  is  the  expensive  plant  of  Medical 
Missions  if  Educational  Missions  do  not  follow 
in  their  wake  ?  Are  we  to  see  these  doors,  so 
hardly  opened,  shut  again  in  our  faces  ?  Are  we 
to  see  (as  now  in  Ispahan)  Roman  CathoHcs  and 
others  entering  in  and  reaping  the  fruits  of  our 
labours  by  opening  large  schools  for  Moham- 
medan boys  and  girls  ?  Are  we  Christian 
missionaries  to  be  behind  all  other  agencies  in 
training  and  developing  the  fast-awakening 
mind  of  young  Persia  ?  If  so,  then  I  say  that 
medical  missionary  work  has  reached  its  limit. 
We  have  borne  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day 
in  toihng  to  open  the  field  to  labourers  better 
fitted  to  follow  up  the  ploughing  and  gather- 
ing out  of  stones  which  has  been  and  ever  will 
be  the  lot  and  privilege  of  Medical  Missions 
in  Moslem  lands. 

The  fields  are  now  open,  and  ready  for  sowing 
the  seed  and  training  the  young  and  tender 
plants,  but  the  skilled  labourers   are  few,   so 


146       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

few  !  We  want  to  see  high-class  schools  for 
boys  and  girls  estabUshed  in  each  of  the  chief 
towns  of  Persia  ;  each  school  with  an  educational 
missionary  at  its  head  and  a  band  of  trained 
teachers  to  co-operate.  Unless  this  can  be 
done,  and  that  soon,  our  day  of  opportunity  will 
have  passed  in  Persia;  our  Medical  Missions, 
successful  though  they  may  have  been  in  theii- 
own  hne,  will  have  failed  in  their  ultimate  and 
highest  piKpose. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  THE  PRESS 

BY 

MISS  LILIAS  TROTTER 

Algiers 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  THE  PRESS 

I  AM  writing  in  a  town  on  the  edge  of  the  desert 
on  the  afternoon  that  closes  Ramadan.  Aheady 
the  children  are  beginning  to  flit  like  butterflies 
in  their  feast-day  clothes  ;  the  sense  of  the  huge 
unity  that  is  sweeping  the  Moslem  lands  into 
to-morrow's  rejoicing,  looms  out  afresh,  rock- 
like in  its  strength  and  stability. 

We  are  learning  at  last  in  these  days,  some- 
thing of  heavenly  strategy,  learning  that  there 
are  other  plans  besides  frontal  attack,  other 
methods  beyond  random  blows  at  the  rock-wall. 
We  have  to  find  the  cleavage,  and  get  the 
powder  in ! 

Now  we  women-missionaries  beHeve  that  one 
of  the  great  Hues  of  cleavage  lies  in  the  women- 
hearts  of  Islam ;  it  is  the  women  who  are 
moulding  its  baby  sons  and  daughters  in 
myriads  to-day  ;  it  is  the  influence  of  \vife  and 
mother  that  holds  back  many  a  secret  convert 
from  confession;  it  is  the  women,  as  Turkey 

l4d 


150       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

has  shown  us,  who  can  be  a  powerful  factor  in 
the  upheaval  to  liberty  when  it  comes. 

The  paper  paired  with  this  one,  will  deal  with 
laying  the  powder-train,  so  to  speak,  among  the 
women  by  the  uttered  word.  I  have  been  asked 
to  take  the  matter  from  the  side  of  a  hitherto 
unused  explosive  force ;  that  of  hterature ; 
literature,  that  is,  distinct  from  Bible  teaching, 
mth  which  subject  I  hope  others  will  deal. 

The  hour  is  ripe  for  advance  in  this  direction  ; 
so  say  the  letters  that  have  come  in  from  Morocco 
to  China.  India  is  ready  to  go  straight  ahead. 
Persia  beheves  the  time  to  be  not  far  distant 
when  all  the  books  will  be  needed  that  can  be 
prepared.  Khartoum  says,  "  There  is  an  ever- 
increasing  body  of  women  who  can  read  and 
who  can  be  influenced  in  their  homes  beyond 
all  telHng,  if  only  we  had  the  right  hterature  to 
give  them." 

Those  who  have  been  patiently  toihng  over 
the  schoohng  of  Moslem  girls  and  women, 
begin  to  feel  the  powers  of  reading  gained  in 
school- days  should  be  used  as  means  to  an  end, 
not  left  to  lapse  in  the  first  years  that  ensue, 
for  want  of  following  up.  Letters  from  the 
whole  reach  of  the  Moslem  world  give  the  same 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  THE  PRESS     151 

refrain — the  girls  drop  their  reading  largely  be- 
cause there  is  nothing  pubUshed  that  interests 
them.  The  few  upper  class  women  who  read, 
read  Httle  but  newspapers  and  French  novels. 
To  revert  to  our  first  metaphor,  it  is  Hke  boring 
with  infinite  pains  into  the  heart  of  the  cleavage 
and  leaving  the  drill-hole  to  be  filled  with  drift- 
ing dust. 

May  not  the  need  begin  far  back  ?  There 
are  "  readers  "  for  boys,  but  hardly  anvthing  is 
planned  to  "  take  "  with  girls,  so  they  come 
to  look  on  reading  as  mere  drudgery  to  be 
got  through,  dropped  with  school-days.  The 
association  of  dulness  remains,  and  dulness  is 
terrible  to  the  young !  Could  not  someone 
who  understands  child -minds  work  out  bright 
beginnings  for  the  use  of  their  waking  powers 
in  stories  and  pictures  with  coloured  lettering 
and  borders  such  as  the  new-found  photographic 
processes  put  within  our  reach  ?  Easterns 
must  have  colour  to  make  them  happy  ! 

Then  for  those  who  have  just  left  school,  let 
us  lay  oiu-s elves  out  in  the  few  years  that  inter- 
vene before  married  Hfe  begins — years,  when,  if 
we  leave  them,  their  trousseaux  \\dll  absorb 
their  minds — years   which  all  who  study  the 


152       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

psychology,  so  to  speak,  of  God's  dealings,  know 
to  be  the  years  when  His  grace  finds  readiest 
access  and  best  response.  Ought  not  each  school 
to  have  at  least  one  worker,  and  that  the  most 
loving-hearted  and  Spirit-filled,  set  apart  to 
follow  up  the  school- days  with  these  young 
things,  visiting  them,  letting  them  read  over  her 
shoulder  if  they  cannot  read  freely  yet  them- 
selves, supplying  them  with  matter  that  they 
will  want  to  read,  if  they  have  reached  the 
standard  where  reading  is  easy. 

What  will  waken  this  desire  ?  there  is  one  of 
the  main  questions. 

The  letters  that  have  come  have  brought 
several  suggestions.  The  most  practical  seems 
that  of  a  magazine —  bi-Hngual  it  may  be — a 
feminine  version  of  "  Orient  and  Occident,"  with 
patterns  for  fancy-work,  stories  of  girls  of  other 
lands,  stories  to  show  the  evils  of  Hfe  without 
Christ  and  the  beauty  of  life  with  Him  ;  stories 
— stories — that  is  the  cry  on  all  sides.  Then 
could  come  a  picture,  then  a  Bible  narrative  in 
everyday  language,  then  a  page  for  mothers, 
which  the  girls  are  sure  to  read,  on  hygiene  or 
child-training.  (One  student  of  human  nature 
among  my  correspondents  goes  a  step  further, 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  THE  PRESS     15S 

and  asserts  that  the  men  would  be  sure  to  read 
what  is  ^v^itten  for  the  women  with  much  more 
interest  than  if  addressed  to  themselves  !) 
Then  there  might  be  a  parable  tale  with  clear- 
cut  dealing  on  sin  and  deHverance — illustrations, 
as  one  letter  says,  are  more  convincing  than 
argument  to  their  mentaHty,  and  awaken  no 
antagonism  : — ^then  a  hymn  that  would  recall 
school  days  with  the  appeals  of  long  ago.  These 
things  are  but  sketched  in  outline  ;  let  us  be 
girls  to  win  the  girls,  that  is  the  chief  point — 
"  introduced  into  feeHng  "  for  them,  as  the  old 
Quakers  used  to  express  it ;  giving  ourselves 
to  the  one  aim  of  gaining  them  for  Christ  at 
their  prime,  before  the  short  girl-brightness  has 
become  shadowed  with  the  clouds  of  Moslem 
womanhood.  Shall  not  om*  ideal  be  to  call  out 
from  the  ranks  of  those  who  have  passed  through 
our  schools,  such  as  will  be  leaders  among  the 
women  who  break  through  for  Him  ! 

To  revert  to  the  question  of  reading.  If  we 
have  caught  the  girls,  the  chances  are  that  we 
shall  keep  hold  of  the  women  with  their  differing 
needs. 

For  the  women  we  should  let  in  stronger  light 


154       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

than  is  fitting  for  the  girls,  on  the  evils  that  dog 
Islam ;  on  the  consequences  of  early  marriage, 
divorce,  witchcraft,  etc.  A  correspondent  from 
the  PhiUipines  suggests  that  the  best  way  of 
helping  them  to  see  their  own  miseries  is  to  show 
them  those  of  their  creed  in  other  lands.  In 
stories  we  could  interweave  more  definite  teach- 
ing as  to  what  salvation  means  and  involves 
than  we  could  give  the  girls,  on  the  Hnes, 
much  modified,  of  "  Sweet  First-fruits."  Miss 
Marston's  tales  of  Indian  hfe  are  samples  of  the 
wide  reach  this  might  have.  Let  us  wrap  up 
aU  we  have  to  say  in  a  story,  and  the  Oriental 
mind  cannot  help  Hstening. 

For  the  poorer,  therefore  busier  women,  whose 
babies  and  cooking  leave  small  time  for  sitting 
down  to  read,  from  all  sides  comes  the  cry  for 
pictures.  In  India  Bible  pictures  with  explana- 
tions interspersed  Avith  gazals  or  hymns  set  to 
native  tunes  are  eagerly  bought.  From  Egypt 
comes  the  strong  recommendation  of  coloured 
pictures  (for  Moslems  there  mil  hang  up  any- 
thing of  the  sort  in  their  houses) ;  picture-sheets 
and  small  booklets  mth  a  few  well- chosen  words, 
would,  it  is  thought,  be  invaluable,  they  could 
be  sold  as  well  as  given.     Short  tracts  on  sin, 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  THE  PRESS     155 

showing  its  sinfulness,  are  asked  for,  also 
vernacular  hymns  and  metrical  versions  com- 
posed by  natives,  histories  of  martyrs  for  those 
who  are  ready  to  "  follow  on."  "  Instructions  " 
for  these  and  for  the  use  of  Biblewomen  ;  also  a 
"  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  thoroughly  simplified.  All 
make  a  point  of  the  simplicity  of  language. 

The  main  difficulty  in  bringing  these  possi- 
bilities from  the  horizon  to  the  foreground, 
lies  in  the  question  where  to  find  those  with 
leisure  for  writing.  This  lack  may  in  part  be 
supphed  by  those  who  through  illness  or  family 
claims  have  had  to  leave  for  home.  Even  better 
could  it  be  met  by  those  still  on  the  field,  but 
whose  strength  is  ebbing  for  active  work. 
If  the  Societies  saw  the  need,  might  not  those 
gifted  for  writing  be  allowed  to  stay  on  in 
hill-stations,  where  their  powers  could  be  eked 
out,  native  help  being  obtained,  so  that  they 
might  be  able  to  spend  the  ripened  years  in 
scattering  a  wider  seed-sowing  than  ever  ? 

These  should  be  in  close  touch  with  those 
still  at  the  front,  for  flashes  of  inspiration 
given  to  those  in  the  heat  and  rush  of  the  battle 
which  come  no  other  way  could  be  passed  back 
to  those  in  the  rear  to  be  worked  out  at  leisure. 


156       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

In  the  German  army  battalions  were  made  up 
in  war-time  of  young  soldiers  and  veterans 
man  for  man,  that  ardour  and  stabiHty  might 
be  perfectly  linked  together.  We  can  learn 
from  these  earthly  armies. 

This  effort  to  secure  writers  would  be  all 
the  more  worth  while  if  we  make  for  that 
unification  of  effort  which  has  been  brought 
to  the  front  this  year — by  man  in  the  Edinburgh 
Conference,  by  God  in  the  Korean  revival. 

Islam's  huge  power  lies  in  its  huge  solidarity. 
We  must  learn  to  use  this,  its  mightiest  weapon, 
against  itself.  The  very  fact  of  this  solidarity 
makes  us  able  to  use  to  a  great  extent  what 
is  written  for  one  of  the  lands  of  Islam  for  all 
the  rest.  It  would  give  a  great  spur,  as  one 
in  India  says,  if  what  is  written  could  serve 
throughout  the  Moslem  world.  Let  us  meet 
the  earthly  soHdarity  by  the  heavenly. 

The  practical  outcome  would  seem  to  be 
that  a  small  working  committee  should  be 
formed,  meeting  say  in  Egypt  or  India  :  in 
some  respects  Egypt  would  be  the  most  central ; 
it  would  have  at  hand  the  Nile  Mission  Press 
for  all  that  concerns  Arabic-speaking  Islam. 
This   Committee   or   council   should   have   its 


y. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  THE  PRESS     167 

representative  in  each  Moslem  country.  If 
the  bright  "  readers,"  wall- sheets  and  pictures 
were  drawn  up  in  skeleton  form  at  this  centre 
wherever  it  may  be ;  being  printed  whole- 
sale in  all  that  concerns  the  illustrations, 
each  land  could  fill  in  its  own  letterpress  at 
small  cost.  Then  as  a  continuous  work,  whether 
in  the  issuing  of  a  magazine  or  of  books  and 
booklets,  there  should  be  a  regular  pulsating 
backwards  and  forwards  between  the  central 
council  and  its  representatives,  of  all  that  can 
be  used  for  Moslem  women  and  girls  throughout 
the  world.  Each  land  would  have  to  differen- 
tiate in  certain  points,  but  each  might  find 
itself  on  the  other  hand  complemented  by 
the  rest.  A  tale  of  Moslem  hfe  in  India  for 
example,  founded  on  fact  and  bright  in  local 
colour,  would  be  read  eagerly  I  beUeve  in 
Egypt,  just  because  of  the  kinship  of  Islam ; 
the  time  may  come — will  come — when  the 
stories  of  Persian  women  coming  out  for  Christ 
may  inspire  those  of  Morocco  to  do  the  same. 
"  Dar  Islam "  is  a  great  factor.  We  shall 
get  another  unity  out  of  that  imity ;  "  Dar 
el  Masih  "  will  be  ours  if  we  hold  on.  "  L'audace 
et  toujoiu's  I'audace  "  was  Napoleon's  definition 


158       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

of  the  clue  to  conquest.  We  need  a  glorious 
optimism — more  than  that,  we  need  that  the 
God  of  Hope  should  make  us  to  abound  in  hope 
by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

And  we  need,  as  Children  of  Eternity,  to 
leave  out  the  time-Hmit,  ignoring  it  as  Jeremiah 
did  when  he  bought  the  piece  of  land  on  which 
the  enemy  had  encamped,  because  he  counted 
on  the  promises  of  God.  Our  Father  loves 
the  reckless  faith  that  scorns  to  look  at  pre- 
cedent, trampHng  under  foot  the  prudence 
of  "  if  "  and  "  when,"  in  the  certainty  that 
victory  is  His  and  that  it  is  coming.  So  let 
us  lay  our  powder-train  well  in  the  rock  crevices, 
waiting  for  the  spark  of  the  Holy  Fire  that 
will  do  God's  part  when  His  hour  has  fully 
come. 


TEACHING  MOSLEM  WOMEN  IN 
MEDICAL  MISSIONS 

BY 

MISS    K.    CAY 
Cairo,  Egypt 


TEACHING  MOSLEM  WOIMEN  IN 
MEDICAL  MISSIONS 

The  importance  of  Medical  Missions  as  an 
evangelistic  agency  is  too  generally  recognised 
to  require  any  arguments  in  its  favour,  especially 
in  a  paper  intended  for  a  Missionary  Conference, 
and  it  is  not  the  intention  of  the  present  writer 
to  compare  medical  with  other  methods  of 
mission  work,  she  being  firmly  convinced  that 
each  of  the  many  means  employed  has  its 
proper  place  and  use,  that  people  who  could 
not  be  reached  by  one  are  influenced  by  another, 
and  that  the  closer  and  more  helpful  the  con- 
nection between  the  different  branches  the 
better  for  the  progress  in  general.  Beheving, 
therefore,  that  the  chief  use  of  a  paper  such 
as  tliis,  is  not  to  give  information,  but  to 
raise  points  for  discussion,  the  writer  will 
mention  some  matters  in  which  it  is  possible 
for  Medical  Missions,  when  viewed  from  an 
evangeHstic  point  of  view,  to  come  short ; 
merely    remarking    first,    that    some    hospitals 

161 


162       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

may  fail  in  one  point,  and  some  in  another, 
and  that  it  is  hardly  likely  that  any  are  complete 
successes  or  failures  in  respect  of  all. 

I.  Evangelistic  Work  in  the  Hospital 

The  ideal  in  this  connection,  is  that  every 
medical  worker  should  be  an  evangelistic 
worker  also  ;  that  doctors,  nurses,  and  medical 
assistants  should  all  take  their  share  of  the 
spiritual  work,  and  that  the  patients  should 
reahse  that  those  who  care  for  their  bodies 
are  those  who  seek  also  the  salvation  of  their 
souls.  The  difficulty  in  the  way  of  this  arrange- 
ment is  that  it  makes  it  absolutely  necessary 
that  the  medical  staff  should  always  be  in 
excess  of  the  requirements  of  the  medical 
work,  and  that  there  should  be  no  fear  of  the 
spiritual  part  being  hurried  or  neglected  in 
case  of  a  crowded  out-patient  department, 
or  "a  very  bad  case "  among  in-patients. 
In  fact,  the  staff  should  be  sufficient  for  someone 
to  be  always  "off  "  medical  duty  at  the  time 
appointed  for  the  rehgious  instruction. 

The  alternative  plan  to  the  above  is  to  have 
evangeHsts  attached  to  medical  missions,  and 
counted   on   the   regular   staff.     These   should 


MEDICAL  MISSIONS  163 

have  no  medical  qualifications,  but  should 
be  competent  rehgious  teachers.  They  may 
be  either  foreign  missionaries,  or  capable 
spiritually  minded  natives  ;  in  the  case  of  a 
very  large  mission,  several  of  the  latter  under 
the  superintendence  of  one  of  the  former. 
The  hours  of  these  workers  should  not  be  too 
strictly  arranged,  they  should  be  free  to  pro- 
long the  morning  Bible  lesson  and  praj^er 
by  a  talk  in  the  ward,  if  hkely  to  be  profitable, 
and  they  should  have  opportunities  for  deahng 
with  individuals.  For  missionaries  of  this 
kind,  parish  work  in  the  home-land  is  an 
excellent  preparation,  and  experience  in  dealing 
with  women,  such  as  that  afforded  by  the 
Y.W.C.A.  is  very  valuable.  It  might  be 
possible  to  get  missionaries  for  this  work  if 
special  appeals  were  made  for  them,  with  a 
hst  of  the  hospitals  in  which  they  would  be 
welcomed,  and  the  names  of  the  Societies  to 
which  such  hospitals  belonged. 

II.  Connection  with  other  Branches  of 
Work  at  the  same  Station 

In  a  large  number  of  cases,  the  visit  of  the 
Mohammedan     or     heathen    to     the     Mission 


164       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

Hospital  is  the  first  close  touch  with  Chris- 
tianity, and  it  rests  with  the  missionaries  to  see 
that,  where  possible,  the  connection  is  kept 
up  when  the  patient  leaves.  In  few  hospitals 
is  there  time  to  spare  for  the  nurses  to  do 
much  visiting,  and  it  is  therefore  desirable 
that  they  should  take  pains  to  inform  visiting 
missionaries  and  school  workers  about  those 
who  belong  to  their  districts,  or  children  who 
might  be  got  into  school.  For  lack  of  this, 
a  patient  perhaps  goes  home,  remains  for 
months  without  teaching,  and  is  then  accident- 
ally met  by  the  visitor,  who  finds  that  she 
has  forgotten  most  of  what  she  learnt.  If 
visiting  missionaries  could  arrange  to  give 
an  hour  once  a  week  to  the  hospital,  and  the 
nurses  would  then  introduce  to  them  such 
patients  as  lived  in  their  districts,  the  acquaint- 
ance would  be  made  while  the  treatment 
continued,  and  the  subsequent  entrance  to 
the  houses  would  be  much  easier. 

III.  Following  up  Patients  whose  homes 

ARE    AT    A    DISTANCE    FROM    THE    StATION 

Although    hospitals    are    usually    in    towns, 
the  patients,  in  many  cases,  come  chiefly  from 


MEDICAL  MISSIONS  165 

villages  scattered  over  a  large  area,  and  these 
villages  are  for  the  most  part  (in  this  country 
at  anyrate)  destitute  of  opportunities  for 
hearing  the  word  of  God.  Tlie  people  who 
come  from  them  are  taught  for  some  days 
or  weeks,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  then  return 
to  the  darkness  of  their  usual  surroundings. 
Some  of  the  nearer  villages  may  be  visited 
once  or  twice  a  year,  and  the  ex-patients 
saved  from  quite  forgetting  what  they  have 
heard,  but  progress  can  hardly  be  expected  in 
such  cases,  and  the  places  further  away  are 
left  without  even  this  httle  means  of  help. 
Itineration  does  not  meet  the  difficulty  of 
following  up  what  is  done  at  the  chief  stations, 
for  women  missionaries  are  rarely,  if  ever, 
set  apart  for  this  work,  so  cannot  give  much 
time  to  it ;  and  even  if  they  could,  it  can 
only  be  carried  on  at  certain  seasons  of  the 
year.  Tlie  one  plan  that  seems  really  to  meet 
the  need  is  the  establishment  of  small  village 
stations,  with  a  view  to  work,  not  only  in  the 
villages  occupied,  but  in  others  near ;  each 
station  undertaking  a  district,  and  all  patients 
Kving  in  those  districts  being  commended  to 
the    care    of   the    missionaries   at   the   village 


166       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

station  immediately  on  leaving  hospital.  After 
nearly  seventeen  years'  work  as  evangelist 
in  a  large  medical  mission,  the  writer  is  going 
into  an  entirely  Mohammedan  district,  to  start 
a  station  of  this  kind,  the  first  to  be  opened 
in  Egypt  in  consequence  of  medical  work. 
In  many  countries  these  village  stations 
already  exist,  and  all  that  is  needed  is  a 
definite  and  thorough  plan  of  connection 
between  them  and  the  hospital. 

It  may  be  objected  that  all  the  above 
suggestions  involve  the  expenditure  of  time, 
but  a  little  management  may  reduce  this  to 
a  minimum.  If  each  hospital  be  furnished 
with  a  list  of  district  stations,  and  with  printed 
forms  to  be  filled  in  with  name  and  address 
of  patient  and  date  of  leaving,  the  necessary 
information  could  be  forwarded  with  little 
trouble ;  and  even  if  the  following  up  required 
rather  more  than  this,  we  may  ask  whether 
it  would  not  sometimes  be  well  to  do  a  little 
less  and  do  it  more  thoroughly,  to  treat  a 
smaller  number  medically  if  this  made  it 
possible  to  keep  many  of  them  in  sight,  and 
instruct  them  afterwards. 


TRAINING  OF  CONVERTS 

BY 

MRS  C.  M.  WHERRY 

LUDHIANA 


TRAINING  OF  CONVERTS 

In  discussing  this  subject,  one  must  realise  the 
pecuhar  position  of  female  converts  from  Islam 
to  Christianity.  They  would  be  either  secluded 
in  the  harem,  or  at  least  under  such  restraint  as 
to  make  it  difficult  for  them  to  observe  the 
ordinary  services  of  the  Church. 

Of  course,  if  Moslem  women  come  out  with 
their  husbands  or  male  relatives,  their  status 
is  at  once  changed.  Even  in  such  cases  they 
would  require  teaching  suited  to  them  as  con- 
verts from  Islam. 

In  corresponding  with  missionaries  in  various 
parts  of  the  world,  I  asked  for  information  on 
the  following  points  : — 

1st.  Have   you   any   congregation   made   up 

principally  of  Mohammedan  converts  ? 
2nd.  Do  you  make  any  special  concessions 
to  women   converts,   as   to    purdah,   or 
to  any  other    prejudices  of   ^loslems  in 
regard  to  the  status  of  women  ? 

If  Moslem  converts  live  in  purdah,  what 

169 


170       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

measures  do  you  take  to  train  them  in 
Scripture  knowledge  ? 

If  not  in  purdah,  can  you  train  them 
along  with  others  in  the  Church,  or  do 
you  find  it  necessary  to  give  special 
training  ? 

Do  they  take  part  in  Church  work  ? 

if  so,  in  what  way  ? 

3rd.  Do  Moslem  women  conyerts  meet  freely 

and  work  heartily  with  converts  from 

other  classes  ? 

4th.  Do  they  make  good  leaders  in  Church 

work  in  the  Christian  Community  ? 
5th.  How  far  do  they  interest  themselves  in 
their  Moslem  sisters  ;    are  they  zealous 
for  the  conversion  of  relatives  ? 
I  will  try  to  answer  these  questions  in  accord- 
ance with  information  received  through  corre- 
spondence.^ 

1st.  In  many  churches  in  India  there  are  con- 
verts from  Islam,  but  only  a  few  whose  members 
are  principally  converts,  or  children  of  converts 

^  I  am  indebted  to  the  following  friends  for  much  of  the 
matter  contained  in  this  paper  :  Miss  Wauton,  Miss  Williams, 
Mrs  Chatterji,  Miss  Hoist  of  India,  Miss  Holliday  and  Miss 
Montgomery  of  Persia,  Mrs  Logan  of  Egypt,  Dr  Lankester  of 
Peshawar,  and  Dr  Hoskins  of  Syria. 


TRAINING  OF  CONVERTS  171 

from  Islam.  There  is  one  in  the  Indian  Church 
at  Ghorawaha,  in  the  Punjab,  and  another  in 
connection  with  the  C.M.S.  at  Peshawar,  also 
one  in  Urumia,  Persia. 

A  C.M.S.  missionary  writes  in  regard  to  a 
Church  in  his  city — "  The  Indian  congregations 
is  almost  exclusively  composed  of  those  who 
have  been  Mohammedans,  or  the  descendants 
of  such.  I  may  add  that  the  staff  of  our 
Mission  Hospital,  numbering  fourteen,  is  with 
only  a  single  exception  also  so  composed."  In 
Turkey  and  Persia  converts  from  Islam  are  as 
yet,  few  in  number. 

The  establishment  of  a  Church  made  up  of 
Mohammedan  converts,  would  be  an  impossi- 
bility even  if  such  converts  were  in  existence. 
Most  of  them,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  have  to  flee 
when  their  change  of  faith  becomes  known. 
Some  have  had  to  leave  their  country  altogether. 
A  lady  writes  :  "  As  to  such  women  they  cannot 
even  attend  public  services  in  the  Church,  as  their 
dress  is  distinct  from  that  of  Christian  women, 
and  they  would  at  once  get  into  trouble." 

2nd.  In  regard  to  special  concessions,  there  is  a 
great  difference  of  opinion  and  consequently  of 
custom. 


172       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

A  missionary  in  India  writes  :  "  In  our  Church 
the  women  always  sit  quite  separate  from  the 
men,  the  two  parts  of  the  congregation  being 
divided  by  the  central  aisle,  with  a  curtain  along 
the  ends  of  the  pews  on  the  women's  side,  and 
at  the  back,  high  enough  to  hide  the  female 
portion  of  the  congregation,  even  when  all  are 
standing  up. 

"  This  custom,  though  frequently  criticised  by 
new  comers,  is,  I  believe,  uniformly  approved  by 
all  who  have  had  any  experience  of  the  con- 
ditions prevailing  here.  In  my  fifteen  years  of 
work  in  this  place,  I  have  never  heard  a  single 
hint  from  any  fellow- worker,  or  from  any  member 
of  the  Indian  congregation,  as  to  the  advisability, 
or  even  the  possibility  of  altering  this  usage. 
Were  we  to  do  so,  we  should  have  young 
Mohammedans  coming  to  church  to  watch  our 
worshippers.  We  should  have  some  of  the 
nicest,  most  modest  of  our  girls  seriously  un- 
comfortable during  divine  worship,  while  the 
best  of  our  married  men  would  feel  objections 
towards  letting  their  wives  attend  church.  It 
is  the  usual,  though  not  the  invariable  custom 
for  our  women  to  use  '  burkas  '  when  passing 
through  the  streets,  and  the  large  conveyance 


TRAINING  OF  CONVERTS         173 

which  brings  the  Indian  workers  to  and  from 
the  Zenana  Hospital,  is  curtained  so  as  to  wholly 
conceal  those  within.  Even  so,  it  is  not  an 
uncommon  thing  for  young  men  to  cause  trouble 
en  route,  so  there  is  always  a  Chaprassi  standing 
outside  on  the  step  of  the  conveyance  for  the 
sake  of  protection.  A  small  community  of 
Armenian  Christians  who  came  from  Afghanistan 
about  fourteen  years  ago,  and  who  have  all 
joined  our  Church,  adhere  most  carefully  to 
purdah  customs  ;  even  when  we  all  meet  to- 
gether, as  for  treats  at  Christmas  time,  the 
women  are  always  accommodated  with  a 
separate  room  and  do  not  mix  with  the  men  of 
the  congregation.  In  great  part,  I  am  quite 
prepared  to  admit  that  these  precautions  may 
be  rendered  necessary  by  the  special  conditions 
obtaining  here,  but  I  cannot  help  feeling,  and  I 
beheve  this  conviction  is  shared  by  other  workers 
here,  that  it  would  be  to  the  benfit  of  the  Indian 
Christian  Community,  if  some  at  least,  of  our 
carefulness  were  copied  elsewhere." 

Another  view  of  the  same  subject  is  given  in 
the  following  remarks,  quoted  from  an  Indian 
lady  missionary  of  long  experience :  "  Tlie 
Church  in  this  district  is  provided  with  a  small 


174       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

room  which  opens  into  the  Church  and  is  close 
to  the  pulpit.  All  the  Rajput  women  sit  here 
when  they  come  to  worship.  They  are  exposed 
to  the  view  of  the  preacher  but  protected  from 
public  gaze.  A  similar  arrangement  was  made 
in  our  city  Church  where  one  of  the  women  used 
to  sit.  She  has  outgrown  her  shyness,  and  now 
sits  along  with  the  rest.  A  great  deal  depends 
on  the  situation  of  the  Church.  If  located  in  a 
public  thoroughfare  out  of  the  Mission  Com- 
pound, I  think  it  desirable  to  have  a  purdah 
arrangement  for  those  who  would  like  to  use  it. 
Otherwise  I  would  not  encourage  the  custom 
in  the  Native  Church,  especially  when  it  is 
being  given  up  by  respectable  Hindus  and 
Mohammedans  all  over  the  country,  especially 
in  large  cities  and  towns."  I  quote  the  follow- 
ing from  the  letter  of  another  lady  :  "  We  think 
the  plan  of  keeping  converts  in  purdah  a  very 
objectionable  one.  Those  who  have  come  out 
in  connection  with  our  Zenana  Mssion  work 
have  all  given  it  up.  For  greater  privacy,  some 
were  baptised  in  a  chapel  connected  with  one 
of  our  boarding-schools.  All  converts  remain 
if  possible,  to  begin  with,  in  our  Convert's  Home 
where  they   can  have   shelter  and  teaching." 


TRAINING  OF  CONVERTS         175 

Another  says  :  "  We  once  baptised  a  Moham- 
medan woman  before  women  only.  One  of  the 
lady  missionaries  baptised  her ;  but  I  think  it 
was  felt  to  be  a  mistake." 

One  from  Egypt  says  :  "  We  do  not  expect 
converts  to  lay  aside  their  veils,  but  to  dress 
like  their  native  sisters,  while  in  most  places  of 
worship  the  men  and  women  are  separated  by 
a  curtain." 

In  Beirut,  Syria,  the  Church  has  some  Moslem 
women  converts  who  were  baptised  in  private 
but  not  secretly.  "  They  are  mainly  teachers  in 
the  most  unique  school  for  Moslem  and  Druse 
children  which  exists  in  the  Turkish  Empire. 
They  do  not  veil  their  faces  before  any  of  our 
missionaries  and  are  treated  the  same  as  native 
young  women  of  Christian  sects.  For  a  number 
of  reasons,  when  passing  through  the  streets, 
they  do  wear  their  veils  and  izars  ;  but  when 
they  arrive  at  the  church  they  are  always 
accustomed  to  remove  their  veils  during  service. 
During  the  past  twenty-five  years,  we  have 
educated  quite  a  large  number  of  Moslem  girls 
in  our  schools ;  while  few  of  them  have  made 
any  open  profession  of  Clu-istianity,  there  has 
never  been  any  difficulty  placed  in  tlie  way  of 


176       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

our  Bible  women  visiting  them  and  keeping  up 
friendly  relations  with  them. 

"  One  of  the  most  interesting  facts  that  has 
come  to  light  during  recent  years  is  this  :  we 
do  not  know  of  any  educated  Moslem  girl  who 
has  spent  four  or  five  years  in  our  schools,  and 
I  include  those  of  the  British  workers  too,  who 
has  ever  been  subjected  to  the  indignity  of  a 
second  wife  brought  into  her  home.  They  seem 
to  have  gained  strength  of  character  and  graces 
enough  to  hold  their  own  against  the  bad  in- 
fluences of  Mohammedanism.  More  and  more 
we  hear  of  Moslem  famiUes  who  practically  adopt 
the  Christian  idea  of  marriage,  that  is,  one 
woman  in  the  home  ;  these  families  frequently 
in  giving  away  their  daughters  take  pledges 
from  the  bridegroom  that  she  is  to  be  the  only 
wife,  while  still  more  encouraging  is  the  fact 
that  many  of  these  educated  girls  absolutely 
refuse  to  be  given  in  marriage  unless  their 
parents  insist  on  this  single  wife." 

3rd.  On  the  subject  of  the  Christian  service 
of  women  converts,  we  have  the  following  from 
a  lady  in  Cairo  :  "  Moslem  women  converts  do 
meet  and  work  heartily  with  other  classes  of 
Christians. 


TRAINING  OF  CONVERTS         177 

"  In  April  this  year  we  had  a  Conference  for 
Bible  women,  women  teachers  in  IMission  schools, 
etc.  ;  we  had  at  least  four  Moslem  converts  with 
us,  who  entered  heartily  into  the  meetings,  tak- 
ing part  in  prayer,  and  showing  absolute  one- 
ness with  the  others  present."  Another  says : 
"  I  have  known  several  who  have  worked  with 
much  acceptance  as  Bible  women  among  people 
of  all  classes  and  religions  in  the  cities,  also 
amongst  Churches  (low  castes)  in  the  villages 
though  some  of  them  were  Sayyids.  One  at 
least  I  know,  lives  on  the  most  sisterly  terms 
with  a  fellow  Bible  woman  who  is  a  convert  from 
amongst  the  Sweepers  of  one  of  our  large  cities." 

4th.  As  to  leadership  amongst  such  converts 
we  may  anticipate  a  variety  of  opinions.  A 
missionary  says :  "  We  have  not  ourselves 
made  much  use  of  them  in  Church  work, 
finding  them  generally  speaking  much  more 
useful  in  reacliing  and  teaching  non- Christians. 
One  married  to  a  pastor  was  very  helpful  in 
work  amongst  the  members  of  the  congregation 
to  whom  her  husband  ministered.  Another 
married  to  a  catechist  in  a  Christian  village, 
took  an  active  part  in  teaching  some  of  the  poor 
and  ignorant  Christian  women  around  her ;  but 


178       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

this  does  not  necessarily  mean  leadership  as, 
in  both  cases  probably,  the  work  was  suggested 
and  superintended  by  the  missionary  in  charge. 
We  know  how  few  leaders  there  are  amongst 
native  Christian  workers,  those  who  are  qualified 
in  this  respect  being  generally  drawn  from 
amongst  those  who  have  received  education 
and  training  in  a  Christian  school.  A  Moham- 
medan zenana  is  not  a  place  in  which  the 
qualities  necessary  for  leadership  are  likely  to 
be  developed." 

5th.  As  to  their  zeal  for  the  conversion  of 
others,  one  says  :  "  I  think  I  may  say  that  all  the 
four  converts  I  have  mentioned,  have  shown 
an  interest  in  their  former  co-religionists  coupled 
with  a  desire  to  win  them.  One  of  two  Sayyids 
mentioned,  was  the  chief  means  of  bringing  the 
other  one  to  Christ,  when  visiting  her  in  her 
zenana ;  she  also  brought  in  a  female  relative 
from  her  own  family  who  afterwards  lived  with 
her,  though  at  one  time  this  relative  had  been 
one  of  her  bitterest  opposers.  Her  own  con- 
version was  very  much  due  under  God,  to  the 
devotion  and  zeal  of  an  intelHgent,  well  educated 
Christian  woman,  who  a  short  time  before  had 
been  a  follower  of  the  false  prophet," 


TRAINING  OF  CONVERTS  179 

A  lady  in  Zeitun,  Cairo,  says :  "  Some  of  the 
women  show  great  interest  in  trying  to  get  other 
women  to  come  to  the  meetings  in  their  houses 
or  in  those  of  friends.  How  far  their  zeal  goes 
I  cannot  tell.  I  am  afraid  they  know  very 
little  about  soul  winning  yet ;  while  they  fear 
their  Moslem  relatives  too  much  to  attempt 
deahng  with  them  personally." 

We  understand,  that  "  up  to  the  present  time 
it  has  been  impossible  for  any  Moslem  man  to 
make  an  open  profession  of  Christianity  in  the 
Turkish  Empire.  Many  prospective  converts 
have  been  seized,  placed  in  the  army  and  sent 
off  to  distant  portions  of  the  Empire,  where 
they  have  been  suspiciously  guarded  and  pre- 
vented from  coming  into  contact  with  Christian 
workers."  How  very  difficult  then  must  it  be, 
for  a  woman  to  profess  her  faith  !  Still  we 
know  that  many  Moslem  girls  spare  no  oppor- 
tunity to  extend  the  influence  ideas,  and  teaching 
which  they  have  imbibed  in  the  schools  there. 
And  now  we  come  to  the  leading  problems  in 
connection  with  work  for  converts  from  Islam. 

How  to  shepherd  women  converts  in  Moslem 
lands.  We  can  do  much  by  personal  visitation, 
where  possible  in  their  homes  with  occasional 


180       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

Bible-readings  and  Prayer-meetings  with  them. 
A  lady  in  Persia  tells  of  some  of  her  work  on  a 
Sabbath  day.  She  says :  "  A  neighbour  came 
over  to  my  house  in  the  morning  with  her  two 
daughters  and  three  strange  women,  who  had 
come  to  visit  her,  asking  for  a  Bible  lesson.  In 
the  afternoon  I  went  to  see  a  young  woman 
and  her  three  sisters  who  are  Christians, 
where  we  had  a  Bible  lesson  in  perfect  freedom 
and  where  they  could  talk  to  me  very  openly 
if  opposers  were  not  present.  We  make  and 
receive  numerous  calls ;  it  is  rarely  they  do  not 
give  us  an  opportunity  to  talk,  and  read,  often 
also  to  pray.  They  will  frequently  request 
this,  for  those  who  know  us,  have  great  faith 
in  our  prayers." 

Where  converts  have  to  leave  their  own  homes 
they  might  be  sent  to  a  Convert's  Home,  where 
they  could  have  special  and  individual  Bible 
instruction;  they  could  also  attend  Church 
service  and  the  Bible  classes  for  women. 

2nd.  The  problem  of  the  education  of  Moslem 
women  converts  and  their  children  comes  up. 

Where  objections  would  not  be  raised,  they 
might  attend  some  existing  class  or  school,  but 
for  those  who  could  not  attend  such  an  institu- 


TRAINING  OF  CONVERTS         181 

tion,  arrangement  might  be  made  for  a  zenana 
school  in  one  house,  where  other  Christian 
women  and  children  in  the  neighbourhood 
might  come.  "  In  Persia  there  seems  to  be  a 
w^onderful  awakening  over  the  education  of 
girls.  Societies  of  Persian  ladies  have  taken 
this  up  in  earnest,  requesting  women  of  the 
Presbyterian  Mission  in  Teheran  to  join  with 
them  in  furthering  the  project,  long  hoped 
for  by  the  latter,  but  heretofore  opposed  by 
Mohammedan  authorities,  as  well  as  by  common 
Islam  opinion." 

3rd.  They  might  be  employed  in  some  in- 
stitution where  they  would  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  learning.  In  writing  of  women  and 
young  girls  a  medical  missionary  lady,  who 
works  chiefly  amongst  Mohammedans  says  :  "  I 
would  train  converts  for  (1)  Hospital;  (2) 
EvangeHstic ;  (S)  School  Work  "  ;  that  she 
herself  is  expecting  a  specially  trained  teacher 
from  Europe  to  take  up  the  training  of  teachers 
and  evangehsts.  She  thinks  that  active  Medical 
Mission  work  is  the  only  way  to  reach  Moham- 
medan women  in  her  part  of  the  world,  and 
that  it  will  be  the  only  way  to  take  the  Gospel 
to  Swat,  Afghanistan,  Tibet  and  Buner. 


182       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

In  Pioneer  work,  a  base  hospital  with  twenty 
small  dispensaries  in  out  stations,  each  having 
three  workers,  a  doctor,  nurse  and  EvangeHst, 
seems  to  her  to  be  the  ideal  way  to  preach  Christ, 
but  above  all  "  the  workers  must  be  Spirit 
filled  disciples  of  Him  who  taught  and  healed 
many." 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  INTERCESSION 

BY 

MISS  ANNIE  VAN  SOMMER 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  INTERCESSION 

The  third  Resolution  of  the  Lucknow  Con- 
ference urges  the  Christian  Church  to  pray 
most  earnestly  that  the  spirit  of  grace  and 
suppHcation  may  be  granted  to  her  in  immensely 
increased  measure,  on  behalf  of  the  Moham- 
medan world.  And  the  words  are  added,  "  The 
Conference  welcomes  the  cycles  of  prayer  for 
various  Moslem  lands,  forwarded  by  Miss  Van 
Sommer,  and  cordially  commends  these  booklets 
to  be  used  by  friends  of  the  work  in  these 
regions." 

As  many  who  read  this  Book  may  never 
have  heard  of  these  cycles,  I  venture  to  add 
a  few  Hues  giving  needed  information. 

There  are  now  seven  cycles  of  prayer  and 
there  will  shortly  be  an  eighth.  One,  for 
North  Africa,  gives  the  names  of  missionaries 
working  in  Morocco,  Algiers,  Tunis,  and 
Tripoli,  together  with  the  names  of  the  places 
where  IMission  stations  have  been  estabhshed, 
the  Societies  to  which  the  missionaries  belong, 

186 


186       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

and  the  nature  of  the  work,  whether  evangel- 
istic, medical,  educational,  or  pastoral.  The 
whole  is  illustrated  by  maps  and  divided  into 
the  several  days  of  the  month,  so  that  those 
who  make  use  of  the  cycle  in  their  daily  time 
for  intercession  are  able  in  the  course  of  four 
weeks  to  cover  the  whole  ground  in  definite 
petition,  seeking  heavenly  grace  for  each 
worker  by  name,  and  remembering  liis  or  her 
special  need. 

We  have  found  this  practice  most  helpful 
in  drawing  missionaries  together  who  are 
working  in  the  same  country.  We  also 
beheve  from  our  hearts  that  God  abundantly 
answers  these  prayers  and  leads  us  on  from 
year  to  year  to  ask  greater  things  and  to  have 
stronger  faith  and  expectation. 

The  next  Cycle  is  for  Egypt  and  The  Sudan, 
and  with  this  we  have  bound  up  the  one  for 
Arabia,  which  is  also  issued  separately.  These 
two  countries  have  had  great  influence  on 
each  other  in  days  gone  by,  and  will  have  it 
yet  again. 

The  fourth  cycle  is  for  Palestine  and  Syria, 
the  fifth  for  Turkey  and  Asia  Minor,  the 
sixth  for  Persia  and  Central  Asia,  and  the 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  INTERCESSION    187 

seventh  for  India  and  the  Far  East.  We 
hope  to  bring  out  one  shortly  for  Central 
Africa,  and  to  pray  into  existence  that  chain 
of  IMission  stations  across  Africa,  which  the 
Lucknow  Conference  has  urged  shall  be 
established,  to  stay  and  roll  back  the  Moslem 
advance. 

In  each  of  these  cycles  the  same  plan  is 
followed.  The  need  of  the  whole  country 
is  indicated.  Then  the  IVIissions  at  work  there  : 
the  Mission  stations  are  mentioned,  the  names 
of  the  missionaries,  and  the  nature  of  the  work. 
Also  possibilities  of  fresh  efforts  wliich  need  to 
be  made.     We  advance  on  our  knees. 

The  Continuation  Committee  of  the  Lucknow 
Conference  has  asked  that  a  fresh  cycle  may 
be  prepared,  unifying  all  the  others,  and 
arranging  them  for  a  year,  rather  than  a  month. 
We  shall  hope  to  carry  out  their  wishes  in  the 
course  of  another  year,  but  it  will  involve 
eHminating  all  who  are  not  directly  engaged 
in  Moslem  work,  and  we  feel  that  many  would 
feel  the  loss  of  the  prayer  and  fellowship.  We 
think  therefore  that  this  new  comprehensive 
cycle  should  be  in  addition  to  those  now 
existing  and  not   in  their   stead.     Quite  half 


188       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

the  missionaries  in  some  of  these  lands  are 
mainly  working  for  Jews  or  Eastern  Christians, 
and  yet  nearly  all  have  influence  in  some  way 
over  their  Moslem  surroundings,  so  that  we 
feel  they  are  one  with  us,  and  we  with  them. 
What  we  now  desire  most  of  all  is  that  friends 
at  home  shall  unite  with  us  in  our  daily  prayer. 
Will  readers  of  "  Dayhght  in  the  Harem " 
find  out  if  God  has  given  them  one  special 
field  for  intercession.  It  may  be  Turkey,  or 
Persia.  If  they  send  for  the  cycle  for  that 
land,  and  then  day  by  day  remember  these 
places  and  people  and  missionaries  in  earnest 
prayer,  such  as  their  own  hearts  and  their  own 
desires  tell  them  that  these  far  distant  unknown 
ones  need,  that  field  will  become  their  own. 
God  will  give  them  the  land  as  surely  as  if 
they  were  able  to  go  out  and  work  there. 

Is  it  not  worth  while  ? 

A  further  service  may  be  rendered  by  bring- 
ing these  cycles  into  use  at  small  gatherings 
for  intercession.  Possibly  there  is  no  speaker, 
and  no  correspondence  to  prompt  prayer  ;  but 
by  turning  the  cycle  into  a  Htany  of  suppli- 
cation, and  day  by  day's  petitions  pleaded 
unitedly,  work  may  be  done  for  eternity. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  INTERCESSION   189 

Among  modern  miracles  of  the  Mission  field 
has  been  the  existence  and  growth  of  the 
China  Inland  Mission.  It  was  begun  and  has 
been  carried  on,  on  the  principle  of  appealing 
not  to  men  but  to  God.  Within  the  short  space 
of  fifty-one  years  it  has  grown  to  a  mission 
of  over  eight  hundred  missionaries,  scattered 
into  every  province  of  China,  sustained  con- 
tinually in  answer  to  prayer.  I  have  heard 
Mr  Hudson  Taylor  say  that  he  believed  one 
secret  of  this  was  that,  at  their  weekly  prayer 
meeting  in  London,  every  missionary  was 
mentioned  by  name.  I  know  that  there  is 
comfort  and  strength  to  the  far  away  lonely 
worker  in  the  knowledge  that  he  is  continually 
remembered  before  God,  and  I  write  these 
few  words  at  the  close  of  our  women's  book 
to  ask  that  more  friends  may  take  up  the 
ministry  of  intercession  for  the  Mohammedan 
lands,  and  for  those  who  are  giving  their 
lives  for  the  Moslems. 

Annie  Van  Sommer. 

Note. — The  cycles  alluded  to  in  this  paper  may  be  ol)t<iined, 
price  4d.,  post  free,  from  the  Secretary  for  the  Nile  Mission 
Press,  J.  L.  Oliver,  16  Southfield  Road,  Tunbridge  Wells, 
England. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  PAPERS 

A  few  notes  from  the  discussions  that  took  place 
following  the  reading  of  the  Papers. 

Mrs  Church, 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  Lahore. 

Jan.  nth. 

I  should  not  presume  to  speak  to  an  audience 
of  such  experienced  workers  except  that  a 
thought  that  was  voiced  in  Miss  de  Selincourt's 
paper — "  the  Ministry  of  Friendsliip  " — found 
such  an  echo  in  my  own  heart. 

We  have  several  times  heard  in  this  Con- 
ference the  special  need  of  Indian  workers 
— native  workers — but  it  has  not  been  once 
suggested  yet  that  we  are  responsible  for  the 
holding  back  of  so  many  workers. 

I  do  feel,  as  one  who  is  working  among  the 
educated  Mohammedan  and  Hindu  women 
of  the  Punjab,  of  Lahore  in  particular,  not 
belonging  to  any  particular  Missionary  Society. 

191 


192       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

that  there  is  a  great  work  to  do  which  cannot 
be  done  by  professional  missionaries. 

There  were  many,  she  said,  who,  though 
not  being  wilHng  to  receive  them  as  "  Mission- 
aries," were  quite  ready  and  glad  to  welcome 
them  as  friends,  and  here  came  in  the  oppor- 
tunity of  working  side  by  side  with  their  Indian 
sisters  and  presenting  a  united  front,  not  as 
"  Missionaries  "  and  their  workers  but  as  friends, 

Mrs  Church  then  mentioned  a  special  effort 
being  made  in  Lahore  to  promote  social  inter- 
course between  Indian  and  European  ladies. 

Miss  A.  G.  Hill,  Y.W.C.A.,  North  India. 

Jan.  21th. 

In  regard  to  the  ministry  of  friendship  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  is  now 
undertaking  to  help  to  solve  the  problem  of  those 
who  are  doing  direct  mission  work  by  bringing 
together  Christians  and  non- Christians.  Our 
Y.M.C.A.  in  India  has  spent  a  good  deal  of 
money  in  buildings,  and  we  should  Hke  to  have 
them  used  by  missionaries  in  an  effort  to  bring 
together  Christian  ladies,  of  all  denominations, 
and  non-Christian  ladies,  as  far  as  possible. 
This  has  been  done  in  Calcutta  and  in  other 


SUPPLEMENTARY  PAPERS        193 

places  with  great  success.  They  have  had 
good  success  in  getting  educated  non-Christian 
ladies  to  meet  together,  just  in  a  friendly 
way,  over  tea  perhaps,  and  when  the  talk  is 
not  on  Christian  subjects.  I  am  not  talking 
from  the  standpoint  of  evangehzing  but  from 
that  of  the  ministry  of  friendship.  I  can  say 
that  practically  all  our  Young  Men's  and  Young 
Women's  Christian  Associations  may  do,  in  fact 
I  think  they  will  do,  something  for  the  men  and 
women  of  the  country  who  are  not  Christians. 
I  wish  just  to  say  that  non-Christians  are  less 
backward  perhaps  in  coming  to  the  Y.M.C.A. 
houses  than  they  are  in  coming  to  mission 
houses,  because  many  non-Christians  come  to 
our  secular  educational  classes  and  they  feel 
that  their  coming  there  will  be  less  noticed  by 
others.  If  our  houses  can  be  of  use  to  God 
to  serve  as  "  half-way  houses  "  to  Christianity 
we  shall  indeed  be  glad. 

Miss  Wishart, 

Women's  Union  Missionary  Society 

of  America,  Allahabad. 

A    social    and    educational    movement    was 
launched  at  Allahabad  during  Christmas  week 


194       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

by  some  of  the  most  advanced  Moslem  and 
Hindu  women  of  India,  which  is  worthy  of 
notice,  as  it  is  indicative  of  the  present  day 
trend  of  thought  among  a  class  who  will  have 
to  be  reckoned  with  more  in  the  future  perhaps 
even  than  in  the  past. 

I  refer  to  the  Bharat  Stree  Mahamandal, 
which,  although  it  has  a  Hindu  name,  had  at 
the  first  meeting  a  majority  of  Mohammedan 
women  taking  leading  parts,  such  as  Her 
Highness  the  Begam  of  Bhopal,  the  Begam  of 
Cambay,  Begam  of  Jangira,  and  her  sister,  a 
Girton  College  girl,  and  others.  A  few  extracts 
from  the  inaugural  address  will  explain  the 
Mahamandal  object  better  than  I  could. 

"  '  The  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle  rules 
the  world.'  Rule  we  shall,  will-ye  nil-ye.  It 
is  to  make  ourselves  worthy  and  efficient 
rulers,  to  equip  ourselves  with  the  fitting  of 
sound  rulers,  to  have  Indian  social  world 
better  governed,  that  the  Bharat  Stree  Maha- 
mandal has  been  founded. 

"No  nation  can  rise  above  the  spirit  of  its 
women.  If  that  spirit  be  asleep  the  nation 
can  never  be  wide  awake." 

"Thus    the    Bharat    Stree    Mahamandal    is 


SUPPLEMENTARY  PAPERS        195 

to  form  a  common  centre  for  women  thinkers 
and  women  workers  of  every  race,  creed,  class 
and  party  in  India,  to  associate  themselves 
together  for  the  progress  of  humanity  through 
that  of  their  own.  We  are  to  acliieve  it  by  a 
net-work  of  organizations  and  by  periodical 
gatherings.  To  be  bound  together  in  the 
pursuance  of  high  ideals — will  that  not  be  an 
inspiration  in  itself  to  make  us  move  and 
act  ?  " 

"  Hence  the  Bharat  Stree  Mahamandal 
should  comprise  women  of  all  races  of  India — 
the  Indo- Aryan,  the  Indo- Semitic,  the  Indo- 
MongoHan,  and  the  Anglo-Indian.  It  should 
bring  together  and  fuse  in  common  work  the 
most  earnest  and  gifted  women  of  every  part 
of  India,  irrespective  of  creed,  caste,  race  or 
political  party  for  the  benefit  of  each 
other." 

"  The  Secretaries  and  Members  of  the 
Executive  Body  are  always  to  be  chosen  from 
the  Hindu,  including  Sikh,  Jain,  etc.,  Mussulman, 
Buddhist  or  Parsi  women  of  India.  A  certain 
number  of  '  Helpers  '  are  to  be  selected  from 
the  Anglo-Indian  and  Christian  members  who 
join    the    Mahamandal.      Their    function   wiil 


196       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

be  to  help  the  Executive  Body  by  suggestions 
and  ideas  which  are  expected  to  be  stored  up 
in  them  by  their  greater  experience  in  these 
Hues  of  work,  also  to  co-operate  with  us  in  any 
other  way  found  practicable." 

Wherever  these  Mahamandals  are  formed 
may  we  not  be  willing  to  take  a  place — even  if 
that  be  a  secondary  one,  in  order  that  our 
influence  may  be  the  seat  which  will  preserve 
these  worthy  aims  from  decay — and  changing 
the  figure — and  the  ideals  which  our  Christ 
has  given  us  may  become  their  ideals  and  He 
their  Saviour  ? 

Miss  Heeshey,  East  Bengal. 

Jan.  mh. 

I  just  want  to  say  a  word  in  regard  to  educa- 
tion in  Eastern  Bengal.  One  paper  yesterday 
threw  out  the  idea  that  there  has  not  been  as 
much  awakening  in  Bengal  as  in  other  parts 
of  India.  It  is  true  that  we  cannot  report 
that  our  Mohammedan  ladies  go  to  clubs  and 
have  reached  B.A.  degrees,  but  we  can  say  that 
there  has  been  a  great  educational  awakening 

in  Bengal.     As  an  illustration ,  which  Hes 

in  the  Eastern  part  of  India,  a  district  of  about 


SUPPLEMENTARY  PAPERS        197 

forty  miles  long  with  a  population  of  eight 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  and  out  of  these 
83  per  cent,  are  Mohammedans,  and  a  great 
many  women  and  children.  Six  years  ago 
there  were  four  girls'  schools,  but  within  six 
years  three  hundred  girls'  schools  have  sprung 
up,  and  that  means  that  in  a  very  fev/  years 
these  girls  that  are  now  reading  in  the  schools 
will  be  Moslem  women,  and  they  are  learning 
to  read — their  appetites  for  reading  have  been 
awakened,  and  now  there  is  great  need  of  litera- 
ture. We  can  readily  tell  in  going  round  when 
we  come  near  a  school,  for  the  girls  of  the 
village  flock  round  and  ask  for  books,  and  read 
them  and  enjoy  them. 

Some  good  suggestions  were  thrown  out 
regarding  the  preparation  of  literature,  such 
as  picture-books  for  girls,  and  I  feel  that  if 
we  could  give  them  hterature  of  any  kind 
they  would  read.  Their  appetites  for  reading 
are  awakened,  and  if  we  do  not  give  them  good 
books  they  will  get  off  into  bad  ones  ;  they  must 
read  something,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  here 
is  a  great  opportunity  for  putting  into  the  hands 
of  these  girls  a  good  Christian  literature. 


198       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

Miss  Marston, 
Zenana  Bible  and  Medical  Mission. 

Jan.  mh. 

Surely  those  of  us  who  Hstened  yesterday 
to  the  interesting  and  carefully  prepared  paper 
on  Literature,  written  by  Miss  Trotter,  cannot 
be  satisfied  that  the  mere  reading  and  hearing 
of  that  paper  shall  complete  its  history.  Do 
we  not  rather  desire  that  it  should  lead  to  some 
definite  action  which  shall  be  to  the  lasting 
advantage  of  the  women  whose  good  we  so 
much  desire  ? 

In  a  letter  lately  received  from  Miss  Trotter 
she  again  expressed  the  wish  that  a  Committee 
should  be  formed  to  work  for  the  production 
of  literature  for  Moslem  women  in  all  lands. 
Can  we  not  act  upon  this  suggestion,  and  do 
our  part,  here  and  now,  for  the  formation  of 
such  a  committee  ? 

I  should  like  to  offer  a  httle  advice  on  my 
own  part,  although  it  differs  from  that  given 
by  Miss  Trotter.  If  you  have  any  gift  in  the 
literary  Hne,  do  not  wait  until  you  are  too 
old  or  too  ill  to  do  anything  else  (for  surely 
we  should  give  our  best  for  what  we  hope  will 


SUPPLEMENTARY  PAPERS        199 

be  the  most  lasting  and  far-reaching  work), 
if  you  do  so,  you  will  not  only  be  depriving 
others  of  the  benefit  of  your  gift,  but  robbing 
yourself  of  a  great  pleasure,  for  is  there  any 
work  so  fascinating  or  dehghtful  ?  Time  can 
be  found  and  will  be  found  if  we  realise  we  have 
a  message  which  can  be  better  given  through 
our  pen  than  our  Hps,  and  that  being  given 
will  reach  hundreds,  perhaps  thousands,  who 
will  never  hear  us  speak. 

Rev.  Canon  H.  Weitbrecht,  D.D., 
C.M.S.,  Punjab. 

Lantern  Slides 

Jan.  mh. 

I  have  shown  a  great  many  pictures  by 
the  magic  lantern  in  the  Punjab,  and  we  have 
never  found  any  opposition  or  offence.  Only 
before  I  start  to  show  them  these  pictures  I 
tell  the  people  that  I  am  going  to  show  them 
letters — that  if  they  were  educated  and  could 
read  I  would  show  them  letters,  but  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  cannot  read  I  will  show 
living  letters  so  that  they  may  be  able  to  read 
my  message,  and  in  that  way  the  people  accept 
the  pictures,  and  I  have  constantly  been  asked 


200       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

by  Moslems  and  even  teachers  to  show  them 
over  again. 

Dr  Young, 

United  Free  Church  of  Scotland  Mission, 

Aden. 

In  my  journeys  into  the  interior  I  have  always 
used  the  magic  lantern,  and  I  find  that  women 
generally  peer  out  from  a  distance  at  first, 
but  as  they  gain  more  confidence  and  see  that 
we  are  busy  with  our  work  and  are  not  looking 
at  them,  they  come  closer  and  closer  until 
there  is  not  a  single  house  in  the  village  that  has 
not  its  representative  with  wooden  -  shaped 
keys  in  their  hands  indicating  that  they  have 
shut  up  their  houses  and  come  to  look  at  the 
pictures. 

I  went  into  another  city,  and  there  the  people 
requested  me  to  show  my  pictures  a  second 
time.  I  have  never  had  any  objection  raised, 
and  I  think  they  have  never  given  offence. 

Rev.  a.  Duncan  Dixey, 
Punjab  and  Sindh  Mission,  C.M.S. 

Jan,  mh. 
To  illustrate  the  difference  in  feeling  that 
exists     in     various     Mohammedan     countries 


SUPPLEMENTARY  PAPERS        201 

regarding  pictures  may  I  mention  that  in 
several  provinces  in  Baluchistan  one  comes 
across  rough  sketches  on  rocks,  of  hunting 
scenes,  and  various  processions  of  a  primitive 
people,  also  occasionally  carvings  on  tombs 
depicting  men  on  horses  or  camels,  armed  with 
bow  or  arrow.  Although  these,  in  some  cases, 
date  back  a  considerable  period,  there  is  no 
evidence  that  the  feehng  to-day  has  changed. 

We  have  on  various  occasions  employed  the 
magic  lantern  to  illustrate  our  talks,  and  have 
never  heard  any  objection  raised  by  those  that 
have  been  present. 

Archdeacon  Ihsan  Ullah,  Lahore. 

Jan,  2Sth. 

As  it  was  asked  that  the  opinion  of  Indian 
delegates  be  given.  I  wish  to  say  that  much 
depends  upon  the  people  and  where  we  are 
using  pictures.  Tlie  majority  of  Mohammedans 
do  not  object  to  pictures  at  all.  There  are 
a  few  Mohammedans  who  might  object  to 
pictures,  and  I  would  say  we  must  be  careful 
and  see  what  had  better  be  done  and  discern 
what  class  of  people  we  are  working  among. 


202       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

Miss  Bland,  C.M.S.,  Agra. 

...  In  my  city,  Agra,  we  have  a  Bible 
woman  who  visits  regularly  in  the  Government 
Hospital,  and  if  any  teachers  are  sick  and  are 
sent  there,  the  other  women  of  the  ward  gather 
round  as  the  Bible  woman  speaks  to  these  women. 
Some  of  these  women  have  never  heard  the 
story  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  I  remember  an 
instance  of  three  women  from  an  outstation 
village,  in  the  hospital,  to  whom  our  teacher 
spoke,  and  they  asked  that  missionary  ladies 
be  sent  to  their  village.  The  ladies  went  and 
the  people  came  round  them  and  saw  pictures 
and  heard  the  Bible  story,  and  one  of  these 
three  women  was  specially  interested.  After 
some  time  that  village  was  again  visited  by 
a  missionary  and  his  wife,  and  this  woman 
had  lost  her  husband  who  was  a  pandit  and 
who  was  wilHng  to  have  us  visit  his  village, 
and  she  is  now  a  Christian,  she  has  been  a 
Christian  for  many  years,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  faithful  workers  in  bringing  others  to 
God.  I  mention  this  instance  to  show  that 
work  can  be  done  in  secular  hospitals  where 
the  mission  has  no  hospitals  of  its  own. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  PAPERS        203 

Miss  Campbell, 
United  Presbyterian  Mission,  Punjab. 

Remarks  on  Mrs  Wherry's  Paper 

Jan.  2Sth, 

In  one  of  the  papers  read  yesterday  there  was 
one  point  regarding  converts  from  Moham- 
medanism praying  for  their  friends,  and  I 
just  want  to  say  that  they  do  pray  for  the 
salvation  of  their  friends  who  are  still  Moslems. 
Some  of  us  who  were  present  at  the  Sealkot 
convention  will  remember  that  at  the  last 
convention  there  were  a  large  number  who 
made  their  way  to  the  women's  prayer-room 
about  ten  o'clock  in  the  night,  about  thirty 
or  thirty-five  of  them,  and  they  did  not  leave 
that  room  till  about  five  or  six  in  the  morning. 
Several  of  these  women  were  converts  from 
Mohammedanism,  and  I  wish  all  had  been 
there  to  hear  the  agonizing  prayers  of  these 
women  for  their  sisters  and  brothers  who  were 
still  Mohammedans.  Our  hearts  were  greatly 
touched  as  with  great  crying  they  asked  God 
to  save  their  brothers  and  sisters  who  were 
still  in  the  toils  of  that  terrible  rehgion. 

Yes,   dear  friends,   our  brothers  and  sisters, 


204       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

the  Moslems,  are  praying  for  the  salvation 
of  their  people,  and  I  may,  in  closing,  suggest 
that  perhaps  we  cannot  do  better  work  for 
these  new  converts  than  to  teach  them  to 
pray. 

One  of  the  most  touching  things  in  my  life 
is  the  little  girls  in  my  school  gathering  round 
and  hearing  the  requests  they  present  for 
prayer  for  their  friends  who  are  Mohammedans. 
I  have  ten  or  twelve  girls  who  are  converts 
from  Mohammedanism,  and  almost  every  night 
these  girls  say,  "  Remember  my  uncle,  who  is 
still  a  Mohammedan,"  "  Remember  my  mother," 
"Remember  my  little  child";  and  let  me  say 
here  I  have  a  young  woman  who  left  her  little 
child  even,  in  order  to  confess  Jesus  Christ. 
I  think  it  is  one  of  the  best  things  to  do  to  teach 
our  people  to  pray  for  the  salvation  of  the 
Moslem  world. 

Miss  M.  T.  Maxwell  Ford,  Palestine. 

Jan.  28th, 

I  should  Hke  to  say  just  a  word  about  the 
use  of  the  organ.  We  are  able  sometimes 
to  have  very  large  Moslem  audiences  in  the 
villages.     Scores    of    boys   will  gather  around 


SUPPLEMENTARY  PAPERS        205 

to  hear.  When  we  propose  to  teach  them  a 
hymn  or  chorus  they  eagerly  agree  to  learn. 
The  subject  of  the  son^  is  always  Salvation 
in  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  way  of  life  is  pointed 
out.  We  often  hear  the  children  afterwards 
singing  these  hymns  in  the  streets. 

In  Northern  Galilee  and  east  of  the  Jordan 
River  (in  the  Golan  and  Hauran)  our  methods 
used  for  reaching  Moslems  are  various,  but 
always  the  Living  Word  is  given  the  first 
place.  We  have  schools  for  the  cliildren, 
which  are  well  attended,  meetings  for  women, 
then  visiting  the  children  and  their  mothers 
in  their  homes  especially  when  they  are  ill 
and  in  trouble — by  going  to  their  homes  we 
reach  many  men  also.  We  find  that  they 
appreciate  loving  prayer  for  them,  and  after- 
wards some  of  them  will  come  again  to  us  for 
prayer.  God  has  given  us  large  numbers 
of  little  children  to  bring  to  Him.  They  learn 
hymns  and  psalms,  chapters  of  the  Gospels, 
and  verses  from  the  Bible  with  great  facility, 
and  they  love  to  sing  the  hymns.  Now,  also, 
we  can  use  with  profit  large  illustrated  highly 
coloured  pictures  of  the  hfe  and  teaching  of 
our  Lord  as  well  as  Old  Testament  stories,  in 


206       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

the  schools  and  for  evangelization  meetings  in 
the  villages.  The  women,  besides  coming  to 
regular  meetings,  are  invited  to  our  homes 
for  a  social  gathering,  sometimes  a  large 
number  together  from  fifty  to  one  hundred; 
at  other  times,  one  woman  alone  or  two  or 
more  friendly  ones  or  members  of  the  same 
family  together,  when  the  Word  of  God 
is  always  taught  and  hymns  sung  which  lead 
on  to  prayer  for  them,  and  sometimes  we  get 
them  to  pray  for  themselves.  They  invite  us 
to  their  homes,  to  their  gardens  and  vineyards, 
and  always  expect  to  hear  the  Word  of  God. 
A  wide  door  and  effectual  is  now  opened  to 
us  to  witness  to  the  truth  in  Christ  Jesus 
in  these  districts. 


RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  GENERAL  CON- 
FERENCE ON  MISSIONS  TO  MOSLEMS 
HELD  AT  LUCKNOW  IN  1911 

Next  Meeting  of  the  Conference 

I.  That  the  next  meeting  of  this  Conference 
be  held  in  1916,  the  place  of  meeting  to  be 
decided  nearer  the  time. 

Appointment  of  Continuation  Committee 

II.  (a)  That  a  Continuation  Committee 
be  appointed,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  take 
steps  with  a  view  to  giving  effect  to  the  Resolu- 
tions of  this  Conference  ; 

(b)  That  the  Committee  consist  of  the 
following  members  : — 

Continuation  Committee 

Rev.  J.  Adriani  of  Posso,  Celebes. 
Rev.  Ahmad  Shah,  Hamirpur,  U.P.,  India. 
Rev.  W.  H.  T.  Gairdner,  Cairo,  Egypt. 
Rev.  W.  Goldsack,  Pubna,  E.  Bengal. 
Miss  G.  Y.  HolHday,  Tabriz,  Persia. 
The  Rt.  Rev.  Dr  Lefroy,  Bishop  of  Lahore. 
Michael  Effendi  Mansoor,  Am.  Mission,  Cairo, 
Egypt. 

w 


208       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

Prof.  R.  S.  M'Clenahan,  Assiut,  Egypt. 
Dr  Julius  Richter,  Belzig,  Germany. 
Miss  A.  de  Selincourt,  Z.B.M.M.,  Allahabad. 
Rev.    J.    S.   Timpany,   M.D.,   Hanomconda, 

Deccan,  India. 
Rev.  S.  V.  R.  Trowbridge,  Aintab,  Turkey. 
Miss  Annie  Van  Sommer,  Cuffnells,  Weybridge, 

England. 
Bishop  F.  W.  Warne,  D.D.,  Lucknow,  India. 
Rev.  Canon  H.  U.  Weitbrecht,  D.D.,  Simla, 

India. 
Rev.  E.  M.  Wherry,  D.D.,  Ludhiana,  Punjab. 
Rev.  S.  M.  Zwemer,  D.D.,  Bahrein,  Persian 

Gulf. 

(c)  That  the  foUov/ing  members  of  the  Con- 
tinuation Committee,  Rev.  W.  H,  T.  Gairdner, 
the  Bishop  of  Lahore,  Prof.  R.  S.  M'Clenahan, 
Rev.  E.  M.  Wherry,  D.D.,  Rev.  S.  M.  Zwemer, 
D.D.  (Convener),  constitute  an  Executive  Com- 
mittee, so  far  as  regards  all  matters  included 
in  the  Resolutions,  with  the  exception  of  the 
convening  of  the  next  Conference  ; 

(d)  That  for  the  latter  purpose  the  whole 
Committee  shall  take  counsel  early  in  1914 
and,  having  decided  on  the  best  place  for 
the  holding  of  the  Conference,  shall  appoint, 
not  necessarily  from  among  their  own  members, 
a  small  local  Committee  especially  to  deal  with 
the  matter  and  to  make  all  necessary  arrange- 
ments for  the  meeting ; 

(e)  Tliat  the  Continuation  Committee  have 
power  to  fill  vacancies  both  in  its  own  body 


RESOLUTIONS  209 

and  on  the  Executive  Committee,   and,   if  it 
deem  desirable,  to  add  to  its  numbers. 

Call  to  Prayer 

III.  That  the  Conference,  holding  that 
Prayer  is  the  primary  means  for  the  advance 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God  throughout  the  world, 
and  being  convinced  that  the  present  apparent 
inabihty  of  the  Christian  Church  to  deal 
effectively  with  the  great  problem  of  the 
evangehsation  of  Mohammedans  is  due  above 
all  else  to  the  weakness  of  the  prayer-life, 
alike  in  the  home  Churches  and  in  the  branches 
of  the  Church,  which  are  springing  up  in  foreign 
lands,  calls  urgently  upon  Christendom  to  have 
far  larger  recourse  to  the  great  weapon  which 
has  been  put  into  her  hands  by  our  Iligh  Priest, 
and  to  endeavour  largely  to  increase  the  number 
and  the  devotion  of  those  Remembrancers 
of  the  Lord,  who  will  give  Him  no  rest  and  take 
no  rest  till  He  establish  and  till  He  make 
Jerusalem  a  praise  in  the  earth.  At  the  present 
time  the  great  moral  and  spiritual  needs  of 
the  Mohammedan  w^orld  and  the  advance 
of  Islam  among  pagan  races,  constitute  an 
appeal  to  the  Christian  Church  to  pray — with 
an  urgency  which  cannot  be  exaggerated,  asking 
most  earnestly  that  the  spirit  of  grace  and 
suppHcation  in  immensely  increased  measure 
may  be  granted  to  her. 

The  Conference  welcomes  the  cycles  of  prayer 
for  various  Moslem  lands,  forwarded  by  Miss 


210       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

Van  Sommer,  and  cordially  commends  these 
booklets  to  be  used  by  friends  of  the  work  in 
those  several  regions. 

Urgency  of  the  Mohammedan  Problem 

IV.  That  this  Conference,  in  view  of  the 
steady  advance  of  Islam,  not  only  am_ong 
various  animistic  tribes  and  other  peoples, 
but  also  to  some  extent  among  historic  Christian 
Churches  and  recently  Christianised  pagans, 
expresses  the  conviction  that  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  Christendom  at  large,  and  more 
especially  the  missionary  boards  and  committees 
of  the  Churches,  which  we  represent,  should 
forthwith  take  practical  measures  for  a  more 
comprehensive  and  systematic  prosecution  of 
the  work  among  Moslems. 

Africa  the  Strategic  Centre  at 
the  Present  Time 

V.  That  this  Conference  is  entirely  in  accord 
with  the  finding  of  the  World  Missionary 
Conference  of  1910,  namely,  that  without 
minimising  the  importance  of  advance  elsewhere, 
the  Continent  of  Africa  is  the  region  upon 
which  our  present  efforts  must  be  chiefly 
concentrated  to  meet  the  advance  of  Islam. 
To  effect  this  purpose,  we  are  strongly  of 
opinion  (1)  that  concerted  action  among 
missionary  boards  and  organisations  is  necessary 
in  order  thoroughly  to  co-ordinate  the  forces 
now  at  work  in  Africa  and  to  regulate  their 


RESOLUTIONS  211 

distribution  in  such  a  manner  as  to  provide 
a  strong  chain  of  mission  stations  across  Africa, 
the  strongest  hnk  of  which  shall  be  at  those 
points  where  Moslem  advance  is  most  active  ; 
(2)  that  a  higher  degree  of  speciaUsation,  aUke 
in  the  training  of  missionaries  intended  for  tliis 
work  and  in  setting  men  apart  expressly  to 
undertake  it,  be  kept  steadily  in  view ;  (3) 
that  prompt  measures  should  be  adopted  to 
greatly  strengthen  existing  missionary  forces 
in  that  critical  field. 

A  Training  College 

VI.  That  this  Conference  strongly  recom- 
mends the  estabhshment  of  a  well-equipped 
college  for  missionaries  to  Moslems  at  Cairo, 
on  a  co-operative  or  interdenominational  basis. 
The  Conference  emphasizes  the  conviction  that 
those  whom  it  is  proposed  to  send  or  set  apart 
as  missionaries  to  Moslems  should  be  carefully 
selected  with  special  reference  to  spiritual 
temperament  and  quahfications  of  mind  and 
heart,  and,  as  a  general  rule,  should  receive 
special  training  in  the  Arabic  language,  and 
also  in  the  history,  literature,  and  doctrinal 
development  of  Islam. 

The  Needs  of  Animistic  Tribes  and 
Depressed  Classes 

VII.  That  this  Conference  is  persuaded  that, 
in  order  to  stem  the  tide  of  Moslem  advance. 


212       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

it  is  important  to  strengthen  the  work  among 
animistic  tribes,  pagan  communities  and 
depressed  classes  affected  by  this  advance ; 
for  we  are  clearly  of  opinion  that  adoption 
of  the  faith  of  Islam  by  the  pagan  people  is 
in  no  sense  whatever  a  stepping-stone  towards, 
or  a  preparation  for  Christianity,  but  exactly 
the  reverse. 

Literature 

VIII.  That  Conference  strongly  emphasises 
the  urgent  necessity  which  exists  (1)  for  the 
production  of  literature  specially  prepared  for 
Moslems  by  experienced  men  set  apart  ex- 
clusively and  properly  trained  for  this  work  ; 
(2)  adequate  facilities  and  effective  methods 
for  the  distribution  of  literature  thus  produced  ; 
and  (3)  the  careful  selection  of  a  hmited  number 
of  influential  Moslem  centres  as  bases  of  pro- 
duction, supply  and  distribution,  and  the 
development  of  those  which  already  exist. 
In  this  most  important  department  of  work 
among  Moslems,  the  widest  possible  co-operation 
on  the  part  of  missionary  boards  and  societies 
is  indispensable  to  secure  the  best  results. 

The  Ancient  Church  of  Africa 

IX.  That,  in  the  judgment  of  this  Conference, 
practical  sympathy  extended  by  the  churches 
we  represent  to  the  Coptic  and  other  ancient 
Churches,  upon  which  the  Moslem  advance 
presses  hard,  is  of  special  value  at  this  time. 


RESOLUTIONS  213 

By  such  expression  of  sympathy  it  is  possible, 
we  beheve,  not  only  to  strengthen  the  faith 
of  those  Churches  and  inspire  them  with  fresh 
courage,  but  also  to  stimulate  missionary 
zeal  among  their  adherents. 

The  Position  in  Africa  and  Malaysia 

X.  That  we  hereby  request  the  Continuation 
Committee  appointed  by  the  Conference  to 
secure  the  completest  possible  investigation 
of  the  conditions  of  the  Moslem  advance  in 
Africa  and  Malaysia  between  now  and  the  next 
Conference  to  be  held  in  1916,  so  that  the  most 
accurate  and  authoritative  facts  may  be  at 
the  disposal  of  that  body. 

Work  among  Women 

XI.  That  the  aid  of  Christian  women  is 
urgently  needed  for  the  evangehsation  and 
uplifting  of  jMohammedan  women  who,  ^\ith 
their  little  children,  constitute  the  larger  part 
of  the  Moslem  world.  The  Conference  accord- 
ingly recommends  (1)  that  those  Missionary 
Boards,  which  send  forth  both  men  and 
women,  should  endeavour  to  secure,  wherever 
possible,  that  both  sexes  are  reached  in  every 
mission  station  through  the  fullest  co-operation 
between  the  workers ;  (2)  that  distinctively 
Women's  Societies,  wliile  not  relaxing  their 
efforts  to  reach  their  sisters  elsewhere,  should 
seriously  consider  the  extension  of  their  work 


214       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

in  Africa,  effective  co-operation  between  the 
various  departments  of  missionary  activity 
being  maintained ;  (S)  that  in  view  of  the 
special  requirements  of  Mission  fields,  existing 
training  colleges  for  women  mussipnaries  should 
lay  stress  upon  such  special  lines  of  study  and 
preparation  as  have  been  indicated  in  the  other 
findings  of  this  conference. 


Appeal  to  the  Churches  at  work  in 
India 

XII.  That  this  Conference,  recognising  the 
urgency  of  the  call  to  the  Christian  Church 
at  the  present  time  to  make  largely  increased 
efforts  to  stem_  the  advance  of  Islam  in  Africa, 
and  remem^bering  the  share  taken  by  emigrants 
and  labourers  from  India  in  the  recent  develop- 
ment of  parts  of  that  continent,  desires  to 
comm.end  to  the  careful  attention  of  Missions, 
working  throughout  India,  the  consideration 
of  the  possibility  of  sending  some  Christian 
workers  from  their  land  to  the  help  of  the 
Church  in  Africa. 

It  would  mxore  particularly  commend  this 
matter  to  the  consideration  of  the  National 
Missionary  Society  and  other  similar  indigenous 
bodies  in  India,  feeling  sure  that,  if  they  could 
make  some  contribution  to  this  great  work, 
they  would  deepen  the  spirit  of  Missionary 
zeal  in  their  members  and  bring  God's  rich 
blessing  upon  it. 


RESOLUTIONS  215 

Relation  of  Missions  to  Governments 

XIII.  That  whereas  considerable  evidence 
has  come  before  the  Conference  of  hindrance 
to  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  and  enlargement 
to  the  spread  of  Islam  caused  by  action  of  some 
Colonial  Governments  in  Africa,  and  especially 
of  the  British  Government,  in  such  matters  as : 

(1)  The  management  of  the  Gordon  College 
at  Khartoum  ; 

(2)  The  marked  preference  shown  for  Moham- 
medans over  the  pagan  inhabitants  in  appointing 
to  posts  of  subordinate  agency  in  Nigeria  and 
elsewhere  ; 

(3)  The  expenditure  of  pubHc  funds  for  the 
erection  of  mosques  in  provinces  outside  the 
sphere  of  the  Egyptian  Government,  the  Con- 
ference desires  to  express  its  satisfaction  that 
these  questions — 

(a)  Already  been  brought  to  the  attention 
of  the  Edinburgh  World  Missionary  Conference 
{videRepoTtoi  Com.  No.  VIL,  pp.  113  and  121), 
and  to  emphasise  the  urgent  importance  of 
most  full  and  careful  consideration,  in  the 
thought  of  all  obtainable  information,  bemg 
given  to  them  by  the  Continuation  Committee 
of  Edinburgh  with  a  view  to  such  action  being 
taken  as  may  be  deemed  practicable  and 
serviceable,  so  that  the  attitude  of  strict 
neutrahty  accepted  by  the  Government  may 
be  maintained  in  practice,  (b)  That  the 
conference   asks   the   Continuation   Comnuttee 


216       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

of  the  World  Missionary  Conference  to  take 
into  consideration  the  desirabihty  of  approach- 
ing the  Governments  of  Great  Britain,  Germany 
and  the  United  States  of  America  with  a  request 
that  they  exert  all  proper  influence  upon  the 
Government  of  Turkey  to  secure  the  fulfilment 
of  the  conditions  of  equality  of  treatment 
and  freedom  of  worship  guaranteed  by  the 
Turkish  constitution  at  the  present  time  to 
aU  classes  of  the  population  and  in  all  parts 
of  the  Empire. 

Supply  of  Literature  for  Moslems 
^  XIV.  That  the  offer  by  the  Methodist  Pub- 
Hshing  House,  Lucknow,  to  furnish  free  of  all 
cost  at  Lucknow,  and  place  at  the  disposal  of 
the  Continuation  Committee  of  this  Conference 
a  total  of  2,000,000  pages  of  tracts  in  Urdu, 
Persian  or  Arabic,  is  hereby  very  gratefully 
accepted,  and  the  Continuation  Committee 
is  requested  to  take  such  steps  as  it  may  deem 
feasible  to  supply  the  necessary  manuscript 
at  an  early  date,  and  subsequently  to  arrange 
for  such  distribution  of  this  Uterature  as  will 
best  serve  the  purpose  of  work  among  Moslems. 

The  following  were  appointed  the  Literature 
Committee,  with  power  to  act : — 

Rev.  Canon  Ali  Bakhsh,  Lahore,  India. 
Rev.  W.  H.  T.  Gairdner,  Cairo. 
Rev.  W.  Goldsack,  Bengal,  India. 
Rev.  Dr  Hoskins,  Beyrout,  Syria. 


RESOLUTIONS  217 

Rev.  F.  W.  Macallum,  Constantinople. 
Prof.  Karl  Meinhof,  Germany. 
Rev.  F.  H.  Rhodes,  China. 
Rev.  W.  A.  Rice,  Julfa,  Persia. 
Rev.  W.  G.  Shellbear,  Perak,  Malaysia. 
Miss  I.  LiHas  Trotter,  Algiers. 
Rev.  Dr  Wherry,  Punjab,  India. 
Mr   Arthur   T.    Upson,    Nile  Mission  Press, 
Cairo,  Secretary. 


APPEAL  TO  CHRISTIAN  WOMEN  BY  THE 
WOMEN  DELEGATES  TO  THE  CON- 
FERENCE AT  LUCKNOW  ON  BEHALF 
OF  THE  MOSLEM  WORLD 

Five  years  ago,  at  Cairo,  the  first  Conference 
of  Moslem  workers  sounded  the  call  "  Awake  !  " 
Since  then,  those  who  have  watched  have  seen 
the  eyes  of  God's  people  beginning  to  open 
to  the  Mohammedan  question,  and  their  pulses 
beginning  to  stir  :  the  breath  of  dawn  is  in  the  air. 
With  the  movem.ent  at  home  has  come  an 
arousal  in  the  torpor  of  Islam.  More  progress 
has  been  made  towards  hberty  in  Turkey  and 
Persia  in  these  five  years,  than  in  the  five 
centuries  that  He  behind  them.  The  Conference 
just  over  at  Lucknow  has  dealt  with  the  outcome 
of  this  arousal  in  its  fresh  tide  of  opportunity. 
Therefore  the  note  of  the  second  Conference 
may  be  summed  up  in  the  cry  "  Advance  !  " 
The  resolutions  that  embody  the  trend  of  this 
advance  are  before  us  now,  and  we  will  look 
at  those  that  concern  us  as  women,  and  listen 
to  their  message. 

First  comes  the  Resolution  III.  with  its  call 
to  advance  in  the  prayer-fight.     One  of  the 

218 


APPEAL  TO  CHRISTIAN  WOMEN    219 

proposals  is  that  the  whole  of  the  Moslem  work 
and  its  representatives  should  be  swept  into 
one  great  prayer- cycle,  extending  over  a  year, 
and  binding  all  into  a  unity  of  intercession. 
May  it  not  be  that  some  such  march  round 
the  walls  of  our  Jericho  will  bring  the  crumbhng 
in  their  stronghold  for  which  we  wait. 

That  old  story  of  the  fall  of  Jericho  lights 
up  afresh,  when  we  note  that  ''  all  men  of  war  " 
were  to  share  in  the  march.  It  was  not,  as 
in  the  pictures  of  our  cliildhood's  days,  a 
handful  of  priests  with  a  band  of  a  few  hundred 
followers,  but  the  sustained  tramp  of  the 
600,000  of  the  fighting  strength.  Supposing 
the  city  to  have  been  three  miles  in  circum- 
ference (a  large  computation),  this  would  mean 
a  complete  surrounding  of  the  city  by  ranks 
at  a  yard's  interval,  100  men  to  a  rank,  marching 
round  once  a  day  to  the  continued  blast  of 
the  rams'  horns,  uninterrupted  by  any  other 
sound  to  break  the  vibration.  May  it  not  be 
that  as  God's  miracles  generally  lie  in  a  line 
with  the  laws  of  nature,  intensified  by  the 
powers  of  the  world  to  come,  this  vibration 
may  have  caused  a  disintegrating  of  the  struc- 
ture, accelerated  by  the  sevenfold  march  of  the 
seventh  day,  so  that  the  shout  that  ended 
it  only  completed  the  shattering,  and  brought 
the  wall  down  flat  ? 

If  so,  onward  with  our  intercession,  vibrating 
with  the  Name  that  has  power  to  move  all 
things   in   heaven    and   earth   and   under    the 


220       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

earth,  not  even  the  walls  of  Islam  can  resist 
the  impact  of  that  power,  if  we  hold  on. 

Resolution  VI.  brings  us  down  from  the  unseen 
realm  to  the  seen.  In  this  also,  our  advance 
as  women  can  keep  pace  with  that  of  the  men, 
if  means  are  forthcoming  to  initiate  it.  In 
every  Moslem  land  there  are  women  missionaries 
who  feel  that  the  training  received  at  home 
needs  supplementing  on  the  field  by  a  term 
of  study  of  hterary  Arabic,  the  history  and 
literature  of  Islam  and  its  controversial  points. 
These  missionaries,  just  from  their  sense  of 
lack,  are  marked  out  as  those  who  have  special 
capacities  for  the  future,  and  should  become 
leaders  on  their  own  fields.  It  would  be 
infinitely  worth  the  sacrifice  of  a  year  from 
their  early  working  days  if  a  Hostel  could  be 
founded  at  Cairo,  where  they  could,  by  joint 
attendance  at  lectures,  etc.,  share  in  this  higher 
course  of  instruction  desired  by  men  missionaries 
and  receive  full  equipment,  in  mind  as  well  as 
spirit,  for  the  fight  of  the  future. 

Resolution  VIII.,  on  the  subject  of  literature, 
touches  on  another  advance  where  we,  as 
women,  should  be  abreast  with  the  need. 
From  all  parts  of  the  Moslem  world  comes  the 
same  appeal :  girls  on  whom  love  and  care 
and  labour  have  been  expended  in  the  Mission 
schools  drift  out  of  reach  and  sink  back  into 
indifference,  largely  because  there  is  nothing 


APPEAL  TO  CHRISTIAN  WOMEN    221 

to  give  them  to  read,  such  as  girls  would  care 
for;  and  by  the  time  they  are  women,  the 
power  of  reading  has  practically  vanished. 
It  would  be  a  step  forward  if  each  Council 
or  Committee  would  discover  which  one  among 
its  women  w^orkers  had  gift  for  writing,  and 
would  set  her  free,  partially  or  wholly,  to  give 
heed  to  tliis  ministry  and  fulfil  it,  not  only  by 
producing  literature  herself,  but  by  seeking  to 
discern  among  the  native  converts  or  teachers 
where  such  powers  lie  dormant. 

Then  in  Resolution  XI.  there  Hes  a  wide 
horizon  for  moving  onward  in  the  way  of  bring- 
ing new  forces  to  bear,  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  following  up  openings  among  Moslem  women 
and  children.  Much  of  the  opportunity  that 
runs  to  waste  in  the  medical  work,  and  among 
former  scholars,  might  thus  be  retrieved. 

The  need  of  the  hour  is  that  of  Harvesters — 
those  who  will  have  the  faith  for  definite 
reaping,  and  will  bring  the  faithful  plodding 
of  the  ploughers  and  seed-bearers  to  its  ultimate 
goal.  And  these  are  wanted,  not  in  units  but 
in  bands,  for,  as  in  the  world  of  nature,  a  troop 
of  reapers  is  needed  for  harvesting  the  results 
of  the  single  sower's  toil  :  the  w^hole  question 
of  direct  evangelisation  needs  to  be  taken  up 
with  new  ardour. 

From  three  of  the  women's  papers  read  at 
Lucknow  comes  the  same  call  for  labourers 
to    develop    the    openings    made    by    medical 


%%%       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

work.  A  sentence  quoted  there,  the  verdict 
of  one  who  had  studied  the  question  in  India, 
China,  and  Japan,  puts  the  matter  in  a  strong 
hght.  She  writes :  "  By  far  the  greater 
number  of  opportunities,  created  by  the  work 
of  the  medical  missionary,  are  inevitably  lost, 
if  she  is  left  with  no  one  to  follow  them  up  : 
she  opens  doors,  but  is  far  too  busy  to  go 
through  them.  To  every  medical  missionary 
twenty  fellow-workers  are  needed  to  take 
advantage  of  the  opportunities  her  work 
creates.  Hers  it  is  to  attract  attention  and 
then  pass  on,  theirs  to  follow  up,  to  visit,  teach, 
instruct,  prepare  for  baptism,  found  schools, 
train  the  converts,  till  they  in  their  turn  are 
ready  to  join  the  great  volunteer  army  of 
Christ's  evangelists." 

A  C.M.S.  missionary,  writing  to  Lucknow, 
says :  "  Any  medical  mission,  where  evangel- 
istic work  is  not  being  carried  on  with  as  great 
zeal  and  faithfulness  as  the  medical  and  surgical 
work,  is  a  failure,  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say 
so.  It  fails  to  justify  its  existence,  and  is  not 
worthy  of  its  name." 

One  of  the  most  urgent  needs  in  our  missionary 
work  at  the  present  time  is  to  increase  the 
number,  and,  above  all,  the  efficiency  of  our 
schools  for  Moslem  girls.  One  of  the  most 
striking  signs  of  the  times  in  the  "  new  Turkey," 
the  "  new  Persia,"  the  "  new  India,"  is  the 
growing  desire  on  the  part  of  Moslem  men  for 
the  education   of  their  wives   and   daughters. 


APPEAL  TO  CHRISTIAN  WOMEN    223 

If  we  let  the  present  opportunity  slip,  others 
will  step  in  and  undertake  the  work,  they  are 
already  beginning  to  do  so,  and  the  rising 
generation  of  educated  Moslem  w^omen  may  be 
lost  to  the  Church  of  Christ.  Are  there  not 
trained  educationists  who  will  come  forward  to 
help  us  in  this  day  of  opportunity  ? 

So  this  need  of  ''a  great  volunteer  army 
of  Christ's  evangelists  "  is  one  that  requires 
the  strongest  emphasis  at  the  present  time. 
The  problem  of  how  to  meet  tliis  contingency 
is  the  one  that  confronts  us.  The  Conference 
has  bidden  its  women  members  to  call  for 
recruits  for  Moslem  Mission  work,  and  to 
plead  the  urgency  of  the  present  opportunity, 
the  solemnity  of  the  issue,  the  pitiable  in- 
adequacy of  the  members  as  yet  coming  forward 
for  the  work. 

All  that  matters  is  that  we  move  on  with 
God,  instead  of  standing  still  before  the 
difficulties — that  we  each  move  on. 

A  story  comes  back,  told  of  one  of  the  West 
African  campaigns  of  the  last  century.  The 
officer  in  charge  had  summoned  his  battahon 
and  asked  for  volunteers  for  a  desperate  venture  : 
he  gave  the  word  of  command  that  each  volun- 
teer should  step  forward  a  pace  from  the  line. 
Something  called  off  his  attention  for  a  moment. 
He  looked  back  ;  the  line  was  still  unbroken. 
"  Shame  on  you  for  Queen's  men,"  he  cried, 
"  has  no  one  moved  ?  "  The  sergeant  saluted  : 
"  They  have  all  stepped  forward,"  he  answered  : 


224       DAYLIGHT  IN  THE  HAREM 

As  one  man  they  had  taken  a  step  forward, 
leaving  the  Hne  unbroken  as  before. 

"  Thy  people  offer  themselves  willingly  in 
the  day  of  Thy  power." 

"  This  is  the  victory  that  hath  overcome  the 
world,  even  our  faith." 

Our  faith  is  in  the  present  power  of  the  living 
Christ. 

Signed  on  behalf  of  the  women  delegates, 

ANNIE  VAN  SOMMER, 

Continuation  Committee  of  the  Lucknow 
Conference. 

I.  LILIAS  TROTTER, 

Continuation  Literature  Committee  of 
the  Lucknojv  Conference. 

An  International  Committee  of  women  is 
being  formed  with  a  view  to  carrying  out  the 
Resolutions  of  the  Lucknow  Conference  relat- 
ing to  women,  and  some  central  address  will 
be  decided  upon.  In  the  meantime  the  dele- 
gate, now  in  England,  is  willing  to  receive 
correspondence. 
Address — 

Miss  A.  DE  Selincourt, 

26  Belsize  Grove,  Hampstead, 
London,  N.W., 

England. 


DATE    DUE 

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